Aging/Older Adults

Program administrators, advocates, and researchers advise the Senate on ways to improve wellbeing and cost outcomes of long-term care by increasing access to HCBS. They speak on national demographics, successful HCBS programs of the past and present, state programs in Wisconsin and Florida, integrating acute and long-term care for dual eligibles, and program finance models. See “Video Contents Index” for time stamps and information on each testimony.

This document outlines a Forum Session which was sponsored by the National Health Policy Forum at George Washington University. The Forum topic focused on different state's approaches to managing overall long-term care spending, offering consumers broader access to home and community-based services, and coordinating long-term care services.

The growing elderly population is a persistent theme in policy deliberations. Gerontologists believe that policy discussions must go beyond population size and take into account socioeconomic characteristics such as living and employment situation, home life, culture, and education. Experts from the fields of economics, political science, and social policy do just that in this forum session, presenting in-depth demographics with a focus on economic security, electoral dynamics, and stereotypes.

Long-term care services for the elderly and for younger populations with disabilities are a significant component of national health care spending. In 2006, long-term care spending was almost $174 billion, most of it paid by the federal-state Medicaid program. This report focuses on concerns about the financing, the already substantial public role, which presages rapid spending increases as the “baby boom” population ages may lead policymakers to revisit these issues.

View the forum session presentations to learn how Arkansas, Texas, and Virginia have created consumer-directed options. They discuss demographics, program details and histories, costs, challenges, and the future. The final presentation goes over Money Follows the Person and Cash and Counseling from the federal level, examining policy, demographics, and outcomes.

The Veterans Health Administration plans to partner with the Aging Network in order to be serving over 109,000 veterans using HCBS by 2011. February 25 and 26, 2009, these organizations met in Boston to develop the partnership, work out next steps, and identify challenges. Presentations provide details on existing infrastructure, Nursing Home Diversion, financial management services, and existing research on HCBS and self-direction.

This eighth edition of this reference report presents comparable state- and national-level data for more than 140 indicators on long-term services and supports from a wide variety of sources. Published approximately every two years, the series was developed to help inform policy discussions among public and private sector leaders. This publication presents the most up-to-date data available at the time of production, and is displayed in easy-to-use maps, graphics, tables, and state profiles.

This cross-disability synthesis white paper presents an overview of direct service workforce (DSW) challenges and practices across sectors and provides a call to action regarding these issues. Little has been written about how DSW jobs vary by population served. Beyond demographics and challenges, the authors also examine the development of different service models, promising practices and areas for planning and action. The appendix catalogs core competencies for each group.

The Quality Management Committee has released this second draft on the quality management plan for the last eight to ten months. A first draft was prepared and disseminated to a series of public forums. Based on the comments from the forums a second draft has been developed, which is what the Panel referred to for this report.

This quality services review consists of direct feedback from individuals who receive services, record reviews, observations, and discussions with agency staff. Agencies are reviewed against clear benchmarks and receive feedback from review staff throughout the process. Quality Action Plans address areas for improvement and are completed by each agency with technical assistance provided by the Quality Management Unit.