Policy

The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, through its Housing an Aging Society Program, recently released its biannual report titled “Housing America’s Older Adults 2023.” The Housing an Aging Society Program aims to deepen understanding of the implications of aging populations and advance policy, planning, design, and public health solutions to address the housing needs of older adults. The 2023 report explores equitable access to affordable, accessible, safe, and connected housing. The report highlights a 34 percent increase in the US population aged 65 and over in the past decade, reaching 58 million in 2022...

The National Council on Independent Living is seeking proposals for their Liberty, Independence, Freedom, and Equity themed 2021 conference. NCIL seeks workshops in the following tracks: Advocacy & Policy work, Independent Living 101, Core Services, Inclusion/Intersectional work, SILC. The submission deadline in March 28th 2021.

On October 6, 2015, a public workshop was convened by the Institute of Medicine and the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education to learn about the supports that are needed for community living and maximizing independence. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published a summary of the workshop that includes the policy and research that is needed to support independent living in the community.

The Kaiser Commission of Medicaid and the Uninsured published an issue brief on the system design of Medicaid's current home and community-based (HCBS) programs.

On March 15, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission released the March 2016 Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP. The authorizing statute of MACPAC requires the commission to submit a report to Congress by March 15 and June 15 each year. This report focuses on three aspects of Medicare: Support for safety-net hospitals; delivery of care for people with behavioral health conditions; and coverage for low and moderate income children.

Justice in Aging, with the support of the Albert and Elaine Borchard Center on Law and Aging, released a new paper, Advocacy Starts at Home: Strengthening Low-Income Older Adults and Caregivers. The paper's structure introduces Margaret and her story of being a family caregiver, discusses the problems as a result of the strain of poverty on low-income family caregivers and then offers solutions to help support older adults and their caregivers.

The Office of Disability Employment Policy and the LEAD Center released three Employment First technical briefs for individuals working on the implementation of Employment First in their states, regions, and organizations. Each of the briefs offers different technical guidance on the following topics: Federal policy that supports Employment First systems, federal legal framework that supports competitive employment outcomes, and criteria for performance excellence.

States provides data to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on factors related to key application, eligibility and enrollment processes using the Medicaid and CHIP Performance Indicator Project. The data is then used to inform CMS on the operations of the programs in each state and to share state performance data publicly. Data collection for this project began in October 2013 and is reported monthly. Enrollment reached 72.4 million people for Medicaid and CHIP in August 2015.