Psychiatric Disabilities/Mental Illness

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.

The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability published "Designing Statewide Career Development Strategies & Programs," a guide to help states assist youth and youth with disabilities prepare for employment and college. This is a two-part guide which includes a primer for youth career development and an implementation guide with promising practices from successful programs for states to model.

The LEAD Center published a policy brief that examines the impact of employment programs on health care costs for working-age people with disabilities. People with disabilities are responsible for a disproportionate amount of healthcare spending each year, mainly through Medicare and Medicaid. Employment of people with disabilities shows a "protective impact" on health, which would ultimately help to lower public spending on health care for this population.

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.

The annual 2013 Medicaid Managed Care Enrollment Report created by the Division of Managed Care Plans and the Data and Systems Group in the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services at CMS, with assistance from Mathematica Policy Research, was released this week. Data on Medicaid enrollment is collected from every state, territory, and the District of Columbia, and is broken down into categories by program, population, and state. The report provides tables with nationwide data and data by state.

The annual Medicaid Long Term Services and Supports expenditure report for FY 2013 is now available. The report includes Medicaid expenditures for all LTSS, including institutional and non-institutional settings, by service category and state. This year’s report shows that home and community-based services composed a majority of LTSS spending. Additionally, it explains the changes, summarizes the data, and describes national trends. There is also an infographic depicting the data from 2013.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics in collaboration with the Kessler Foundation published this month's National Trends on Disability Employment report (nTIDE). Each month this report is published to mark the changes of employment for people with disabilities. The last 11 months have been a period of job growth for Americans living with disabilities. This month showed a decline in employment statistics. Please note that these statistics are not seasonally adjusted.

This infographic shows an overview of the current statistics pertaining to experiences of individuals with disabilities that are living in the United States.

The United States Departments of Health and Human Services and Education released a policy statement on September 14, 2015, that declares that all children with disabilities should be allowed access to "inclusive high-quality" early childhood programs, "where they are provided with individualized and appropriate support in meeting high expectations." Presently, children with disabilities and their families face difficulties in accessing these programs that are available for their peers.

The results of the annual survey represent a snapshot of the current status of state government employees, the agencies that administer the programs, and the services that are provided. The 2015 survey revealed that states are continuing to address the same underlying challenges discussed in the previous reports.The report also includes summary tables that outline specific information about each individual state agency and LTSS program. Email adiaz@advancingstates.org to request a hard copy version.