Long-Term Care

COVID-19 is a long-lasting and complex disaster situation involving a public health emergency and an economic crisis, with particularly acute impacts for older adults, people with disabilities, and others with certain health conditions. States are responding with changes in policies and procedures to ensure individuals have access to public benefit programs (e.g. Medicare Savings Programs, LIS/Extra Help, SNAP, and LIHEAP). ADvancing States has a new brief highlighting where states are with benefit access and enrollment since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results in the brief comes from the 2021 ADvancing States Membership Survey: COVID-19 Benefits Access and Enrollment, a follow-up to the 2020 survey.

NASHP has published an Appendix K interactive map, supported by The John A. Hartford Foundation, to track each state’s new flexibilities in modified 1915 (c) and 1115 waivers. States are using these waivers and amendments to ensure that their older adults and family caregivers are receiveing the LTSS services they need during the pandemic.

This publication from Health Management Associates analyzes the approaches that Medicaid programs in DC, Idaho, Maine, Washington and Alabama used to coordinate Medicare and Medicaid services without standalone Medicaid MLTSS programs. The paper focuses on Medicaid and Aging agencies overseeing programs that provide long-term services and supports fee for service and explores effective methods to coordinate and integrate care with Medicare Advantage Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans.

On June 22, 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Olmstead v L.C., delcaring that people with disabilities have a civil right under the Americans with Disabilities Act to live and fully participate in their communities. ACL's Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging, Alison Barkoff, released a blog post on June 22, 2021 disucssing the significance of this ruling and the importance of expanding our HCBS system following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The application for the next round of NCAPPS Technical Assistance is now available. Technical Assistance will be provided to up to ten States, Tribes, or Territories for up to 100 hours per year for up to two years. Technical assistance will help advance person-centered thinking, planning and practice to support people with disabilities and older adults with long-term service and support needs. Applications are due by July 30, 2021.

RRF Foundation for Aging has released an issue brief on investing in caregiving. More than 53 million people are family caregivers who provide essential support to older adults. Estimates suggest that the care they provide is worth nearly half a trillion dollars, making caregivers the nation’s largest healthcare workforce. This brief provides an overview of the key issues around caregiver support and describes the work the foundation is funding to address these issues.

To celebrate Older Americans Month, ACL has published their 2020 Profile of Older Americans report. This report highlights the demographics and experiences of older adults throughout the last year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report captures trends in workforce participation, diversity, mental health and economic disparities across the community.

This report is an update to NAC's research series, Caregiving in the U.S., conducted roughly every five years. The 2020 update shows that the number of family caregivers in the United States has increased by 9.5 million from 2015 to 2020. The report has also found that the general health of family caregivers has declined in the last five years. Read the full report to learn more. Dowload is available in Spanish.

Community Care Corps has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for innovative local models in which volunteers assist family caregivers or directly assist older adults or adults with disabilities with non-medical care to maintain their independence. The purpose of the project is to establish, enhance, or grow volunteer programs for family caregivers, older adults, and people with disabilities.

The National Academy of Social Insurance published a new issue brief about universal LTSS programs in Europe and Asia. This brief provides an overview of the existing approaches abroad to the provision of universal LTSS, and considers lessons from an in-depth case study of Germany.