Eligibility

The aim of this policy brief is to offer state planners and program administrators an overview of strategies being used to improve and develop programs to support individuals with co-occurring psychiatric and developmental disabilities.

How many hoops does a consumer have to jump through to receive services? The goal of service delivery for ADRC is seamless entry into long term supports for consumers. This document outlines basic indicators of streamlining access by looking at different aspects of the process. The Measures Matrix will utilze the Evaluation Plan Highlights document also attached.

The Pre-SOAR (SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery) Data Form will be used by Oregon to capture, evaluate and report outcomes for the SOAR Technical Assistance project. The purpose is to monitor improvement, as a result of SOAR training, in accessing SSI and SSDI benefits for eligible people disabled by mental illness.

Advances in medicine and technology plus changes in social attitudes have improved employment opportunities for working-age adults with disabilities. Despite progress there are still barriers to employment. The Medicaid Buy-In program is an important component of the federal effort to make it easier for people with disabilities to work without losing health benefits. This report, the third in a series offers a profile of the 28 states with both Buy-In programs and Medicaid Infrastructure Grants.

This issue brief summarizes the Medicaid provisions of the budget reconciliation law signed in February 2006 and discusses the implications of the proposed changes. The changes would net reductions of $4.8 billion over the next five years and $26.1 billion over the next ten years from current Medicaid spending. Read about the many policy changes in the DRA, which both reduces federal and state Medicaid spending and also changes health care access and coverage for low-income beneficiaries.

The attached assessment tools are used statewide throughout the Aging Network to collect information to streamline the eligibility determination referral process. Individuals with a high priority based on the screening are referred for a comprehensive assessment prior to care plan development and enrollment for services.

Looking for the facts about Fast track, presumptive and expedited eligibility? Do they mean the same thing? This handout from the ADRC Fall Meeting offers a quick overview of questions around federal laws and state implementation.

The National Council on Disability released a new report with recommendations on improving employment opportunities for people with disabilities receiving Social Security benefits. The major reasons cited for the extreme underutilization of these work incentives by beneficiaries were lack of knowledge on work incentives and the complex and hard-to-grasp nature of the incentives for even those who were aware of them. The report further discussed ideas for policy and procedural modifications.

Over the last four years, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has been tracking the national development of the three main Medicaid HCBS programs that states can operate: (1) optional 1915(c) HCBS waivers, (2) the mandatory home health benefit, and (3) the optional state plan personal care services benefit. This brief presents expenditures and participant data on all three Medicaid HCBS programs and findings from the survey of policies on 1915(c) waivers.

Medicaid is the major public payer of community services and supports for working age adults with serious mental illnesses. This handbook explains how existing Medicaid options and waivers are used by states to finance a broad range of community services and supports for adults with serious mental illnesses, and demonstrates what aspects of state-of-the art community services and supports for this population are funded by Medicaid.