Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities

CHCS has published a new tool to assist states in planning and implementing a Master Plan for Aging (MPA). A MPA is a cross-sector, state-led strategic planning resource that can help states transform the infrastructure and coordination of services for their aging population and people with disabilities. This tool outlines core principles to guide the MPA development process and shares best practices for cross-sector MPA development through state examples.

This CMCS informational bulletin provides an update on the 2022 Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Spousal Impoverishment Standards. Certain Medicaid income and resource standards are adjusted annually in accordance with changes in the SSI federal benefit rate (FBR) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI). These include some of the standards described in section 1924 of the Social Security Act, which describes the financial eligibility rules that apply when married individuals seek coverage of certain long-term services and supports. Included with this informational bulletin is the revised 2022 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards chart that displays the updated MMMNA and Community Spouse Monthly Housing Allowances.

ACL has released a new brief, Leveraging Innovation, Collaboration, and Data with Assistive Technology to Reduce Social Isolation and Loneliness: Success Story from Illinois. This brief highlights a model and innovative partnership at both the federal and state levels that successfully purchased and distributed technology devices to older adults and people with disabilities served by local agencies in order to reduce social isolation and loneliness.

Prior to COVID-19, Indiana hosted stakeholder workgroups to identify needed improvements to its Medicaid-funded long-term services and supports (LTSS) system. The pandemic amplified existing disparities, including inequitable access to community-based care, unaligned and uncoordinated care for dually eligible individuals, and broad gaps in capacity and resources to effectively oversee and implement the LTSS reform effort. With support from Arnold Ventures, Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration (IN FSSA) is working with project partners to design a Medicare-Medicaid integration strategy for dually eligible individuals enrolled in MLTSS and engage providers in its development process.

Technology Affinity Group

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is has released a request for information to assist in defining a set of key determinants of health that addresses all the elements of the whole person health model, including factors that can influence health either positively or negatively, and that encompass the full continuum of biological, behavioral, social, and environmental domains.

Workforce Affinity Group

This brief outlines lessons from the Center for Health Care Strategies’ MassHealth Care Planning Learning Collaborative, where Massachusetts Accountable Care Organizations and Community Partners integrated care planning across their organizations to improve care for Medicaid members with complex needs. This brief can inform providers, payers, and community partners in other states seeking to improve care for people with complex health and social needs.

This research brief synthesizes the latest available information and research relating to the mistreatment of adults with disabilities (AWD). This brief addresses the intersection of AWD and elder mistreatment and provides information about risk factors, national survey findings, intimate partner violence (IPV), adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), barriers to reporting and help-seeking, and recommendations for intervention.

This report from CMS presents information on disparities in health care received by people using Medicare Advantage. The report looks at differences in quality of care based on race and ethnicity and sex as well as the intersections of race/ethnicity and sex. CMS uses data from the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems and the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set in this report.