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Health plans for people with pre-existing mental illness, if they included mental health benefits at all, have historically been more expensive, with limited benefits and significant administrative hurdles to obtaining care.This report describes a survey conducted by NAMI to assess the experiences of people living with mental illness and their families with private health insurance.The findings of the survey are supplemented with an analysis of 84 health plans in the top 15 states.

This report offers recommendations for federal and state entities from a thorough review of the legal and regulatory home and community-based services (HCBS) framework outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act and new HCBS regulations. The bearing of setting size and configuration on the quality of supports and services received by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and individuals with mental health disabilities in home and community-based arrangements is the focus.

This is the official White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) Toolkit that organizations and individuals can use to host their own events and submit to the official 2015 White House Conference. The four focus areas of the 2015 WHCOA include retirement security, healthy aging, long-term services and supports, and elder justice.

In light of a rapidly aging population, increasing costs, and funding that is not keeping pace, programs like Meals on Wheels face unprecedented challenges to meet the growing need for meal and nutrition services. Decision-makers at all levels of government and community-based organizations within the Aging Network are increasingly seeking lower cost solutions to stretch constrained budgets. This report investigates the impact of meal service delivery on the health and well-being of adults 60+.

Working together, housing and health care partners can launch initiatives that lead to improved health, safety, and quality of life for low-income older adults facing multiple health and social challenges. This guide outlines how housing and health providers can work together to make life better for older adults.

Generations United has developed a series of tools to help communities develop intergenerational best practices. This publication compiles some of these tools including: planning tips from across the United States, inspiring stories from award winning communities, engagement and development scales to assess programs, self-administered community assessment, and an infographic on why intergenerational solutions are critical to building strong communities.

This article examines whether disability is a correlate of poverty when poverty is measured using (1) the official poverty measure; (2) the supplemental poverty measure (SPM); and (3) two multidimensional poverty measures created by the authors. The findings support the hypothesis that disability is associated with poverty in the United States, irrespective of the poverty measure under use.

This Health Affairs article presents key findings from The Commonwealth Fund's 2014 International Health Policy Survey. The survey compared the views and experiences of people 65 and older on issues of health and health care use, health care costs and access, care coordination, end-of-life planning, and more. The survey was conducted in 11 countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Federal Partners in Transition, an interagency workgroup, has published a strategy report to ensure that federal programs and resources effectively support American young adults with disabilities in reaching their goals of independence. This report identifies five outcome goals to operate across agency boundaries in an effort to enhance coordination and improve compatible policies among the multiple federal programs that support transitioning youth with disabilities and their families.

This report explores a range of issues relating to skills training and education for older workers, including the challenges older workers face when deciding whether to enroll in education and training programs, and, if so, how to choose a program and pay for it. In its key findings, the report states that while various factors influence older job seekers’ success in the labor market, many older unemployed workers lack the skills that are currently in demand.