Psychiatric Disabilities/Mental Illness

Through the Better Care Playbook, CHCS has organized a virtual panel of innovators to discuss challenges in applying evidence when designing and refining complex care program. This blog post shares key themes from the panel's discussion at the 2021 “Putting Care at the Center”conference, hosted by the Camden Coalition’s National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs. During this discussion, panelists shared their experience translating research findings into decision making for complex care program design and improvements.

On January 12, 2022, CMS released the Medicaid LTSS Annual Expenditures Report for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2019. This report discusses the LTSS rebalancing trends and growth in expenditures for home and community-based services as compared to institutional spending during the time period reviewed.

ACL has summarized the CDC's latest COVID-19 vaccination and booster reccomendations on their resources page. The webpage includes a section of resources for the Aging and Disability Networks and guidance for people who are immunocompromised.

As part of its ongoing efforts across many channels to expand Americans’ access to free testing, the Biden-Harris Administration is requiring insurance companies and group health plans to cover the cost of over-the-counter, at-home COVID-19 tests, so people with private health coverage can get them for free starting January 15, 2022.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is working with states to promote access to Medicaid services for people with mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) crises. Authorized under President Biden’s American Rescue Plan (ARP), states have a new option for supporting community-based mobile crisis intervention services for individuals with Medicaid. This option will help states integrate these services into their Medicaid programs, a critical component in establishing a sustainable and public health-focused support network.

In a November 1 informational bulletin, CMS encourages states to adopt two strategies to help more people enroll in Medicare Savings Programs and State Health Insurance Assistance Programs. In addition to informing the advocacy work of the aging and disability networks, the bulletin also includes information that can help our networks identify older adults and people with disabilities who likely would be eligible for the programs.

On Monday, CMS published an Informational Bulletin describing ways for states to help eligible individuals enroll in the Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs), making health care more accessible and affordable. The MSPs cover Medicare Part A and B premiums and cost sharing for individuals with low income. In 2021, over 10 million individuals were enrolled in an MSP.

The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) at ACL has funded 81 new grants and contract awards in fiscal year 2021, ranging from six-months long Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects building new technology to five-year centers conducting research and training in rehabilitation interventions.

The study examined self-reported data from over 10,200 Medicaid HCBS beneficiaries across 13 states using the NCI-AD survey. Unmet needs for Medicaid HCBS were consistently and significantly associated with poor health outcomes (emergency department visits, hospital stays, and preventative care) and community living outcomes (community participation, relationships with family and friends, satisfaction with how time is spent during the day, and sense of control in life.

States received approval for temporary changes to their HCBS programs from CMS, within the Department of Health and Human Services to enable states to limit in-person contact to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This GAO report describes the temporary changes to Medicaid HCBS programs and examines CMS’s monitoring and evaluation of the effects of those changes.