Eligibility

Many low-income individuals with severe mental illness leave state institutions without health insurance and therefore without financial access to the treatment they need to live successfully in their communities. Read an evaluation of Oklahoma’s efforts to develop and implement a model program to ensure that eligible individuals with mental illness were enrolled in Medicaid at discharge from state prisons and institutions for mental diseases.

What are some of the essential components of Medicaid long-term care programs? This brief, geared towards people working in Medicaid or disability employment, discusses payment for long-term care, range of services, administration, eligibility, functional assessment and rebalancing of long-term care systems. Also find examples of how some states have incorporated aspects of long-term care services and supports (LTSS) into their Medicaid Buy-In (MBI) programs.

How does health reform legislation effect eldercare and disability employers and direct-care workers? Review a chart that summarizes eight health-reform provisions that have either taken effect already, or will do so in the near future. These provisions give direct-care workers and their families numerous opportunities to access more affordable health care before 2014. Find a link to this sheet, as well the Health Care for Health Care Workers website, which contains the full series.

Find an analysis of changes the new law makes to Medicaid, Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage that impact low income individuals in particular. There is also a brief discussion of the coverage expansion and its potential impact on this population. This brief is part of a series of issue briefs prepared by NSCLC which discuss the impact of the new law on low income older adults.

Read two reports about successful initiatives in outreach efforts. One describes how the SSA and Dept. of Veterans Affairs worked collaboratively to improve data exchange and outreach, thus increasing it’s service to the military community. The other examines two lives in Colorado and Arkansas that have improved as a result of provisions in the MIPPA Act of 2008.

Millions of low-income adults without children who currently cannot qualify for coverage, as well as many low-income parents and children now covered through the CHIP program will become eligible for Medicaid. These programs are expected to cover an additional 16 million people by 2019. This brief provides the details of the benefit and cost-sharing rules that will govern the coverage available to newly-eligible adult Medicaid beneficiaries.

What are the key health reform provisions related to investments in direct-care worker training and workforce development? This fact sheet highlights national advisory panels as well as grant opportunities for states and individual employers. Action steps and additional resources are included.

Innovative applications of technology in Medicaid are highlighted in this series of profiles from varying states. Louisiana, a pioneer in using “Express Lane Eligibility” (ELE) is examined in this report. ELE allows Medicaid and CHIP agencies to use eligibility findings from other public programs to identify, enroll, and recertify participants. Despite a 12% reduction in the Medicaid workforce over the last two years, the volume and quality of service has remained consistent.

Recently enacted health care reform has a number of implications for PAS users. The Center for Personal Assistance Services has compiled a number of publications on this topic. The information is divided into the categories of: overall, long-term care, Medicaid, Other and Implications. A link to the full text of the Act is included as well as a summary and timeline of the Act

Since the inception of the HCBS waivers, Minnesota has experienced an increased demand to provide services to individuals living in the community. Review a report on county and state use of available resources for the following waiver programs in MN: Community Alternative Care (CAC), Community Alternatives for Disabled Individuals (CADI), Developmental Disabilities (DD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Overviews of each waiver are provided as well as enrollment and expenditure data.