Physical Disabilities

CMS Office of Minority Health has added a new resource to their Improving Access to Care for People with Disabilities webpage. The resource, Modernizing Health Care to Improve Physical Accessibility: A Primer for Providers, is intended to help staff in health care settings improve quality, satisfaction, and physical accessibility for people with disabilities.

Funded by ACL, this resource library collects digital materials from the Older Adults' Equity Collaborative member organizations to provide tools and guidance to the aging services network, providers, older adults and family caregivers. The resources included cover topics of social isolation and mental health, Alzheimer's and Dementia, disabilities, caregiving, retirement income and security, and emergency planning.

NADTC has released it's 2020 Annual Trends Report, highlighting challenges in transportation over the past year and solutions being immplemented across the United States. Topics include: Volunteer Driver Programs in the Age of COVID-19, Transportation for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, A Fixed-Route Response to Assisting Communities During a Pandemic, Meeting the Transportation Needs of Diverse Older Adults and People with Disabilities, and more.

CMS has released a Center Informational Bulletin providing tools to states and CMS to improve the oversight of managed care and increase beneficiaries’ access to care. In the bulletin, CMS shares resources to improve compliance with managed care standards and requirements and guidance setting the content and format of the Annual Managed Care Program Report. The bulletin also outlines multiple tools and resources for improving managed care oversight that are currently in development at CMS.

The Coverage to Care (C2C) patient resource released earlier this year, Telehealth: What to Know for Your Family, is now available in Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, and Vietnamese, as well as English and Spanish. This resource helps patients learn about the types of care they can receive through telehealth, how to prepare for an appointment, and what to expect during a telehealth visit.

On June 22, 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Olmstead v L.C., delcaring that people with disabilities have a civil right under the Americans with Disabilities Act to live and fully participate in their communities. ACL's Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging, Alison Barkoff, released a blog post on June 22, 2021 disucssing the significance of this ruling and the importance of expanding our HCBS system following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The application for the next round of NCAPPS Technical Assistance is now available. Technical Assistance will be provided to up to ten States, Tribes, or Territories for up to 100 hours per year for up to two years. Technical assistance will help advance person-centered thinking, planning and practice to support people with disabilities and older adults with long-term service and support needs. Applications are due by July 30, 2021.

ACL has created a new COVID-19 resource page that houses information to help older adults and people with disabilities access vaccines. The resource page includes facts about COVID-19 vaccinations, information from the CDC about increasing vaccine accessibility, ACL guidance for the aging and disability networks and more.

The Disability Information and Access Line (DIAL) connects callers to information about how to access the COVID-19 vaccine and related supports for people with disabilities. DIAL connects callers to vaccine sites and provides information related to barriers to vaccination by referring callers to local and national disability resources. acl.gov/dial | 888-677-1199 from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM ET | DIAL@n4a.org

Value-based payment (VBP), provider payment models that shift from volume-based fee-for-service to support value-driven care delivery, is an important strategy for states seeking to promote innovative primary care approaches through Medicaid managed care. This blog post highlights opportunities for states to implement payment models that support primary care providers in offering more comprehensive care, such as through integrating physical and behavioral health care.