Money Follows the Person

This brief describes key features of Georgia’s MFP program & highlights recent experiences. Through MFP, Georgia has achieved a 2 percent growth in annual spending on home & community-based services. With the extension of MFP under the ACA, the state plans to continue the program through 2016 with hopes to transition more than 2,000 individuals with the help of over $93 million in enhanced federal matching funds. Also, review brief profiles on several Georgia residents enrolled in the program.

A new technical assistance brief from the Center for Health Care Strategies provides a brief outline of the Money Follows the Person, Balanced Incentives Payment Program, the Community First Choice Option, and the modified Home and Community-Based State Plan option. For each program, the authors outline the budget impact/FMAP opportunity, application process, participant eligibility, care coordination/plans, and data reporting/evaluation.

The MO HealthNet Division administers the MFP program called My Life, My Way, My Community. This site is an example of how this state presents material to the community about the program. See samples of the Initial Application, Operational Protocol, Brochure and Participation Agreement.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires that quality of life surveys be conducted for Money Follows the Person participants transitioning from habilitation centers and nursing facilities into the community. Review this survey as a potential template for your MFP program. This website recruits potential surveyor applicants and offers a sample Surveyor Letter, Application, Confidentiality Statement, Screening and Vendor Input Form.

Implementing an MFP program and looking for ideas on policy? The State of Texas was one of the originators of the "money follows the person" (MFP) concept. Review the website which offers definitions and policies.

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 offers options & financial incentives for states seeking to expand systems of long-term services and supports. Many of these opportunities work together & build on existing initiatives, resulting in a strengthened infrastructure for service provision & an LTSS system that meets the needs of Medicaid beneficiaries. Key provisions of the ACA are summarized in this issue brief, followed by considerations for states seeking to take advantage of new opportunities.

With the growing role of home and community-based services in Medicaid long-term services & supports, an understanding of the different characteristics of the population transitioning from institutional care to HCBS, the trends occurring in LTSS & the effect of the different programs is needed. Hilltop developed a series of metrics to present to the Maryland Money Follows the Person Stakeholder Advisory Group now in the form of chart books. These metrics can be tailored for any state.

This report, which was presented at the Long-Term Care Interest Group Colloquium at the June 2011 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Seattle, Washington, discusses progress in rebalancing Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) spending, how the Affordable Care Act can support states’ continued efforts to rebalance LTSS, and opportunities for future research to support continued system transformation.

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 offers a number of options and financial incentives for states seeking to expand their systems of long-term services and supports. Many of these opportunities can be leveraged to work together and to build on existing initiatives. Key provisions of the ACA are summarized, followed by considerations for states seeking to take advantage of these new opportunities.

The latest brief describes Medicaid expenditures in 2009, showing that 45% of its total long-term care dollars nationally were spent on home- and community-based services. The findings in this analysis are based on the CMS Form 64 data published by Thomson Reuters, detailing each state’s Medicaid expenditures.