ASPE/DALTCP

Existing national disability-related survey & administrative data are limited in their ability to meet needs of federal programs & policy makers. One potential response to these shortcomings is the fielding of a national disability survey. This report was prepared to assess the need for developing & fielding another national disability survey data collection effort. It presents findings from one of the project’s major activities designed to review the disability-related information.

As state and federal agencies strive to meet the growing needs of people with disabilities while using fewer resources, better disability data are needed for monitoring and improving the health, economic status, and overall well-being of this population. The report identifies limitations in national survey data on disability and outlines a wide range of potential short- and long-term options for addressing them, including developing and fielding a national disability survey.

This chart book highlights findings from two new federally sponsored national surveys. Both surveys represent a major advance in the data available about two of America’s most important jobs, certified nursing assistants working in nursing homes and home health aides in home health and hospice care settings. The chart book is intended to help multiple audiences understand these jobs, issues, and challenges; and establish useful benchmarks as goals toward which improvement efforts might aspire.

Included in this new survey is data on residential care facilities and the characteristics of the people they serve. As such, the survey will supply providers, consumers, government agencies, and policymakers with data to plan for the long-term care of the United States population.

Persons who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid account for a disproportionate share of expenditures under both programs and receive services that are fragmented and inefficient. Learn about how state contracts with Medicare Special Needs Plans can be used to achieve Medicaid policy goals and advance care integration for dually eligible beneficiaries.

The limited research in the area of elder abuse suggests that the problem is widespread and largely unreported. Over the next several decades, the problem of elder abuse is expected to grow as the population of Americans age 65+ rapidly expands. This report provides both data on these issues as well as recommendations for future data collection and funding.

The Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging sponsored PPAR’s Winter/Spring 2010 issue. It includes seven articles written by national experts describing recent and notable changes in LTC policy, with its increasing emphasis on HCBS services. An introductory essay provides a 30-year review of the evolutionary process of LTC. Consumer-directed initiatives, caregiver and workforce issues, maturation of the service delivery system, and a review of recent state-level initiatives are discussed.

Examine a snapshot of workforce competencies that have been identified for professionals who work in LTC settings. It focuses on providers who serve long-term care needs of the older population. The paper also examines whether the competencies are the same or different from what is needed to care for the geriatric population in acute and ambulatory care settings.

This brief reviews the history and current status of federal special needs plans (SNPs) authority, with particular attention to provisions of interest to state Medicaid programs that have or are considering entering into contracts with SNPs to integrate or coordinate Medicaid long-term care services with Medicare primary, acute and prescription drug services for dually eligible beneficiaries. Key future changes to the program and a legislative history are outlined.

In this report, the authors present the results of an assessment that involved review of the literature on emergency preparedness risk communication and public health messaging strategies; the compilation of educational and outreach materials for emergency preparedness communication with vulnerable populations; and site visits in three states and the Washington DC area to identify gaps in the practice of risk communication with vulnerable populations.