Long-Term Care

Since 1988, Thomson Reuters has produced annual reports on state Medicaid spending for long-term services and supports (LTSS). One limitation to the reports has been that LTSS spending provided through Medicaid managed care programs often is not identified. This report presents estimated Federal Fiscal Year 2008 and 2009 managed care spending not included in previous LTSS expenditures reports. These estimates are based on data provided by states with managed LTSS programs.

Launched this spring, this new online community for advocates working to strengthen and protect home and community-based services unites professionals in the aging and disability fields so that they can share ideas with peers, collaborate, and find resources to enhance efforts in their states. Anyone with an interest in these issues is welcome to join.

In November 2010, UnitedHealthcare and the National Alliance for Caregiving conducted a study in order to better understand how family caregivers use home technologies in order to assist them in caring for their loved ones while allowing them to remain independent. Explore the study's key findings in order to learn more about 12 particular technologies that have been found to be helpful, perceived barriers to using technology, and influencing factors on family's use of technology.

This article presents an overview of the direct-care workforce, touching upon training requirements, demographics, wages and benefits, and employment settings. It notes that, despite the U.S. needing more direct-care workers than ever, job quality in the field remains extremely low. The article proceeds to list several ways that policymakers and employer practices can improve the quality of direct-care jobs. The article was written by PHI Director of Policy Research, Dorie Seavey.

This latest installment of Health Affairs' new series The Care Span, supported by The SCAN Foundation, identifies several ways to strengthen transitional care processes through health reform provisions. Most of the interventions led to reductions in readmissions through at least thirty days after discharge. To learn about the recommendations and proposed strategies, peruse this publication.

The blog for Vi Living, a provider of various care level housing for seniors, is an excellent source of information from aging experts, government agencies, non-profit groups, in-house leaders, and others. Its a great resource for anyone interested in finding senior housing. Explore this website to find all of the information that you need in one stop.

The Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly (CARIE) has many concerns about “unbefriended” elderly, those who do not have any family or friends to help them. CARIE’s Legislative Committee developed a white paper about unbefriended elderly with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia to help bring attention to this group to begin to address their needs. This paper contains helpful recommendations for policymakers, researchers, and others.

The Medicaid program is a source for many innovative practices in making long-term services and supports (LTSS) available to consumers. Case management services have been integral to Medicaid community-based LTSS programs since their inception, but as the programs have grown and evolved the functions performed by case managers have changed. This brief describes current case management efforts in states and activities and policies that can enhance states’ efforts to help consumers.

When Congress created SSDI in 1956, disability and employability were viewed as mutually exclusive states. As a result, the 1956 law defines disability as the “inability to engage in a substantial gainful activity in the U.S. economy”—in other words, the inability to work. This proposal would assist workers with work-limiting disabilities to remain in their current jobs or to transition to more suitable jobs and would assist employers to accommodate workers to perform their jobs.

Explore this brief for information on the main trends to emerge from the latest Medicaid expenditures and participant data for the three main Medicaid HCBS programs: (1) optional 1915(c) HCBS waivers, (2) the mandatory home health benefit, and (3) the optional state plan personal care services benefit. It also presents 2009 findings on the policies used in these three programs, including eligibility criteria, provider, service and waiting list data.