Personal Assistant

A number of health reform provisions give states additional options for financing HCBS services. This brief analyzes scenarios whereby states, which have significant roles in implementing many aspects of the ACA, might implement a combination of new Medicaid state plan options, enhanced Medicaid matching payments, and demonstration projects to expand HCBS care. In determining whether to adopt these options, states will assess whether they improve upon the current Medicaid authorities they use.

Recently enacted health care reform has a number of implications for PAS users. The Center for Personal Assistance Services has compiled a number of publications on this topic. The information is divided into the categories of: overall, long-term care, Medicaid, Other and Implications. A link to the full text of the Act is included as well as a summary and timeline of the Act

Find a sample Member's Guides to a MIG program. The state of Louisiana created the attached reference guide to help consumers understand the Medicaid Purchase Plan, its benefits and services. Some of the topics included are eligibility, Medicaid rights, responsibilities to Medicaid, covered services and helpful contacts. This can serve as an example that could be useful to other states interested in providing similar information to consumers.

How are states educating and marketing to consumers about work incentive programs for people with disabilities? Through a series of informational documents, Louisiana summarizes Disability Benefits & Work, Finding a Job, Knowing your Rights, Support, Taxes, Ticket to Work, and Transition after High School programs. Samples of these documents are attached and could be useful templates for other states interested in similar projects and marketing approaches.

How are MIG states working to educate people with disabilities who want to work about incentives that won’t disqualify them for Medicaid health care coverage? The state of North Dakota created this advertisement to summarize program benefits and qualifications, and list other contacts and resources for information and help. It is an approach that could be useful to other states looking to dispel popular misconceptions.

Do you need personal assistance services at your workplace? Personal assistance services can be a big incentive for people with disabilities who want to work, and for those whose employers do not supply their own. South Dakota created the attached brochure explaining eligibility and services to consumers. This sample could be useful to MIG grantees interested in personal assistance services.

How are states making personal assistance services an effective reality for consumers? North Dakota created The Registry, a website designed to help connect seniors, people with disabilities, and family members using personal assistance services and various home and community based services, with available providers of HCBS such as Qualified Services Providers. A link to this site and marketing materials are attached, and could serve as templates for other MIG states.

Find helpful documents developed for the PersonalChoice program. Included are a flowchart of the referral/intake/enrollment process, Advisement Agency Certification Standards, a Training Manual and Quick Start Guide designed to give participants an overview of the program and their roles and responsibilities (including information on service and spending plans, communication tips, and information about working with PersonalChoice support agencies), and a Spending Plan template.

Many assume that most of the long-term care population is elderly. Not so, according to this study. About half of community-dwelling Americans needing long-term care are younger than sixty five. Research and data collection focusing solely on older adults with long-term care needs misses half of the story. Recommendations of the study include a redistribution in long-term care spending from institutional to non-institutional settings, and from agencies to independent providers.

An alternative to the traditional care delivery system, Arkansas’ IndependentChoices was the first program nationally that offered participant directed care as an option to its’ Medicaid population. Arkansas serves as a model for other states interested in implementing similar programs. This in depth procedures manual outlines the history, philosophy and detailed procedures for the program. Review examples of these enrollment and operating policies.