Long-Term Care

ACL released its first comprehensive report on the accomplishments of Older Americans Act (OAA) Title III, VI, and VII programs. Enacted in 1965, the OAA created the foundation for a comprehensive system of services and supports that enables millions of older adults in this country to continue to live independently as they age. Today, programs funded by the OAA provide essential services to older adults, targeting those with the greatest economic or social need, particularly low-income and minority persons, older individuals with limited English proficiency, and older persons living in rural areas. The programs play a vital role in helping to maintain the health and well-being of millions of older adults and their caregivers.

The Housing and Services Resource Center was created for people who work in the space of housing resources and homelessness services, behavioral and mental health services, independent living services and other supportive services. The Center is part of a partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to expand affordable housing, improve home and community-based services, and address bias in America's long-term care system.

Experts at The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and the state of Tennessee say families in poverty with disabilities in Tennessee and nationwide face difficulty both accessing and utilizing long term services and supports (LTSS) in both rural and urban areas. This article breaks down issues of accessibility across the country by discussing how affordable housing, transportation, and social determinants of health affect individuals differently based on their ability and region.

Prior to COVID-19, Indiana hosted stakeholder workgroups to identify needed improvements to its Medicaid-funded long-term services and supports (LTSS) system. The pandemic amplified existing disparities, including inequitable access to community-based care, unaligned and uncoordinated care for dually eligible individuals, and broad gaps in capacity and resources to effectively oversee and implement the LTSS reform effort. With support from Arnold Ventures, Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration (IN FSSA) is working with project partners to design a Medicare-Medicaid integration strategy for dually eligible individuals enrolled in MLTSS and engage providers in its development process.

The Acting Assistant Secretary for Aging and Administrator of ACL is seeking information on recommended changes, additions, or deletions to Code of Federal Regulation's section on Grants to State and Community Programs on Aging; Grants to Indian Tribes for Support and Nutrition Services; Grants for Supportive and Nutritional Services to Older Hawaiian Natives; and Allotments for Vulnerable Elder Rights Protection Activities, including Subpart A—State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. Information must be submitted electronically on June 6, 2022 by 11:59 p.m. ET. All are encouraged to submit electronic comments to: Administration on Aging, OAAregulations@acl.hhs.gov. Include “OAA Regulations” in the subject line of the message.

A Master Plan for Aging (MPA) is a cross-sector, state-led strategic planning process that can help states transform the infrastructure and coordination of services that support older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers.This brief outlines unexpected benefits of the MPA process, and illustrates how they can help states respond to new priorities and challenges, such as public health emergencies and health equity.

Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have gained flexibility to offer a wide range of new supplemental benefits and to target benefits to members with specific conditions and individual need. This data insight provides an analysis of non-medical supplemental benefit growth since 2020, and focuses on the following: Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI), which first became available in 2020 through the passage of the CHRONIC Care Act and a set of five Expanded Primarily Health-Related Benefits (EPHRB), which first became available in 2019 after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded the definition of what could be considered “primarily health-related."

The majority of individuals who need long-term services and supports (LTSS) in the United States rely on unpaid assistance from family and friends. The economic value of the unpaid care they provide is estimated to be over $470 billion annually. Unmet needs and waiting lists for Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) place significant strain on individuals with disabilities and their families. This report explores how increasing access to HCBS services can reduce out-of-pocket costs for families and strengthen employment and financial wellbeing of family caregivers.

In this blog post, Nancy Archibald, MHA, MBA, Associate Director of Integrated Care at CHCS, describes the state of Indiana's plan to launch Medicaid managed long-term services and supports in 2024. The state is receiving grant funding through Advancing Medicare & Medicaid Integration, an Arnold Ventures initiative developed in partnership with CHCS that assists states in filling resource gaps in designing and launching integrated care programs.

On January 12, 2022, CMS released the Medicaid LTSS Annual Expenditures Report for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2019. This report discusses the LTSS rebalancing trends and growth in expenditures for home and community-based services as compared to institutional spending during the time period reviewed.