Aging/Older Adults

The Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), in partnership with Mathematica Policy Research and Airam Actuarial Consulting, released an issue brief on the state considerations when setting capitation rates for Medicaid Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) programs. CHCS and its partners examined the considerations taken by eight states (Arizona, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin) as they established their MLTSS rates.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released their monthly report for October 2015 on Medicaid and CHIP application, eligibility, and enrollment data. States provides data to CMS on factors related to key application, eligibility and enrollment processes using the Medicaid and CHIP Performance Indicator Project. The data is then used to inform CMS on the operations of the programs in each state and to share state performance data publicly.

The White House released the final report from the White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA). President Barack Obama hosted the sixth WHCOA on July 13, 2015. Prior to the conference, events were hosted all over the United States to allow stakeholders to provide their input. The final report summarizes the work done both at the WHCOA and during the pre-conference activities and feedback elicited throughout the process.

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), ADvancing States, and ODPHP, hosted a State Healthy Aging Workshop. State officials developed action plans for healthy aging that achieve shared goals of the state public health agency and the state aging agency. This report provides an overview of the state team planning outcomes and an evaluation of the workshop activities and presentations.

The AARP Public Policy Institute published a report that examined what state Medicaid agencies need in order to effectively monitor the performance of managed long-term services and supports (MLTSS) programs. Eight states with long-term experience operating and overseeing MLTSS were used to analyze monitoring capacities and develop promising practices. The states were: Arizona, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has four new reports available from the National Study of Long-Term Care Providers (NSLTCP). The data briefs and state tables use survey data from NCHS’ 2014 NSLTCP. NSLTCP provides reliable, accurate, relevant, and timely statistical information to support and inform long-term care services policy, research, and practice.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released their monthly report for September 2015 on Medicaid and CHIP application, eligibility, and enrollment data. States provides data to CMS on factors related to key application, eligibility and enrollment processes using the Medicaid and CHIP Performance Indicator Project. The data is then used to inform CMS on the operations of the programs in each state and to share state performance data publicly.

The Kaiser Family Foundation released an issue brief that analyzes the cost of Medicare Part D drug plans, specifically out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries. A major finding from the brief showed that Medicare Part D enrollees may pay thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket costs if they require a specialty drug, even after exceeding the catastrophic coverage threshold. This study's findings emphasize how important it is for beneficiaries to diligently shop for new plans each year.

This is a report on the lifelong disparities that exist among older American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) populations when compared to the general United States population of older adults. The report includes a definition of who falls into the category of American Indian, identifies where these populations generally live in the U.S., and compares AI/ANs generally with the rest of the population of older adults and also specifically compares health coverage.

States provides data to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on factors related to key application, eligibility and enrollment processes using the Medicaid and CHIP Performance Indicator Project. The data is then used to inform CMS on the operations of the programs in each state and to share state performance data publicly. Data collection for this project began in October 2013 and is reported monthly. Enrollment reached 72.4 million people for Medicaid and CHIP in August 2015.