Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities

The Center for Policy and Evaluation, Administration for Community Living (ACL) published the policy brief “Promoting Community Living for Older Adults Who Need” in June, which marked the 17th anniversary of the Olmstead v. LC Supreme Court decision. The Olmstead decision has helped older adults and people with disabilities receive more integrated care; however, the policy brief outlines opportunities that states have to further improve their home and community-based services (HCBS).

This White Paper explains a proposed quality framework for managed care programs serving individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (ID/DD). The framework, developed by UnitedHealthcare's National Advisory Board, extends beyond traditional clinical measures to benchmark the quality of the "services and supports" delivered in these programs to measure how these programs address individuals' quality of life.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released their monthly report for April 2016 on Medicaid and CHIP application, eligibility determination, 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 Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP) and Community Catalyst released an issue brief regarding the Financial Alignment Demonstrations. This issue brief discusses key findings from research on the demonstrations and proposes recommendations in two areas: operational or practice changes for health plans and program adjustments for policymakers.

CMS posted two new reports with Medicaid LTSS expenditures data. The first report focuses on the most recent data available and recent trends such as 1) an increase in LTSS provided in managed care programs and 2) increased used of newer Medicaid LTSS options authorized in the Deficit Reduction Act and the Affordable Care Act. The second report, “Improving the Balance,” uses data from FY1981 through FY2014 and documents the transition of Medicaid LTSS from institutional services to HCBS.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has issued an Economic News Release on “Persons with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics,” which shows, among other statistics, that the unemployment rate for people with disabilities fell to 10.7% in 2015 from 12.5% in 2014. The data on persons with a disability are collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey of about 60,000 households that provides statistics on employment and unemployment in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued new guidelines to assist long term care facilities in complying with regulations by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that require facilities which are Medicare and/or Medicaid-certified to ensure their residents receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.

This report captures the current state of I&R/A service provision, including trends and developments, challenges and opportunities, and promising practices, through survey responses provided by representatives from state agencies on aging and disability, Area Agencies on Aging, Aging and Disability Resource Centers, Centers for Independent Living, non-profit human service organizations and national organizations.

ADvancing States in collaboration with the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) released the results from a six-state deployment of the National Core Indicators – Aging and Disabilities (NCI-AD™) adult consumer survey. While 13 states are participating in the NCI-AD survey in 2016, six of the states - Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey, and North Carolina- received their results more quickly.

ADvancing States has released the association’s 2016 policy priorities. The priorities document outlines issues and recommendations regarding a wide range of health and human services programs important to older adults and people with disabilities. These include issues such as: • Implementation of the Older Americans Act reauthorization; • Medicaid LTSS innovations; • Support for caregivers; and • Employment for people with disabilities •