AARP Public Policy Institute

Amid federal and state budget pressures, policymakers in many states are either planning to start new managed care programs for Medicaid beneficiaries with LTC needs or are expanding existing programs. This AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Brief reviews the limited but important experience of states that have implemented such programs to date, identifies key policy issues going forward, and assesses the likelihood of future growth in these programs.

This AARP Public Policy Institute fact sheet and report outlines the need for publicly funded respite services for family caregivers and describes the types available. The research concludes that publicly funded caregiver support programs play an important role in sustaining and strengthening the unpaid, informal care provided by families.

This fact sheet issued by the AARP Public Policy Institute examines recently published data shedding light on the characteristics of direct care workers, their working conditions, future demand for their services, and efforts to improve recruitment and retention of these workers.

The sixth biennial edition of the AARP Public Policy Institute's databook, presents an overview of long-term care in each state plus the District of Columbia by using numbers, graphs, charts, and maps. Data includes each state's demographics, need for LTC and HCBS services, the number of LTC workers per thousand people aged 65 and over, urban average for private-pay home health aide wages, and CNA hours per resident day. Each state is compared with others through rankings and national averages.

This Data Digest from the AARP Public Policy Institute, Disability: Federal Survey Definitions, Measurements, and Estimates, examines different ways disability has been defined and measured in national surveys sponsored by the federal government. The brief discusses the sources of some of the variation in disability rates and illustrates how broader definitions of disability yield higher prevalence rates.