Massachusetts

States have continued to rebalance their long-term services and supports (LTSS) toward more home and community-based services (HCBS). This report uses diverse methods to assess the different incentives affecting states’ decisions to implement the four Medicaid HCBS options under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA); two new options (Community First Choice and the Balancing Incentive Program) and two existing [Money Follows the Person and 1915(i)].

Section 1115 waivers provide states an avenue to test new approaches in Medicaid that differ from federal program rules. Waivers can provide states significant flexibility in how they operate programs and can have a significant impact on program financing. As such, waivers have important implications for beneficiaries, providers, and states. This brief provides an overview of Section 1115 waiver authority, the waiver approval process, and recent waiver activity and discusses the implications.

CDC introduces an online interactive system that quickly helps translate state-level, disability-specific data into valuable public health information. With Disability & Health Data System (DHDS), users can customize how they view disability & health data throughout the country, making it easy to understand health disparity information, identify trends, & help support the development of fiscally-responsible, evidence-based programs, services and policies that include people with disabilities.

PayingForSeniorCare.com website and the Eldercare Financial Resource Locator Tool were created and maintained by the American Elder Care Research Organization. The mission is to assist individuals in the planning and implementing of long-term senior care. The website is designed to help families and caregivers locate information about long-term care resources for their loved ones, and to find the public and private programs available to assist in covering the cost of such care.

This brief explains how Medicare beneficiaries become eligible for Medicaid, provides national & state-by-state data on enrollment, & examines national & state-specific data on Medicaid spending for dual-eligible beneficiaries by service & eligibility group. The Foundation also has a collection of resources on dual-eligible beneficiaries, including basic facts & data, and analysis & explanation of specific issues, which include provisions of health reform affecting dual-eligible beneficiaries.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is currently working with states to design and implement new models for integrating the benefits and financing of both programs. This website is designed as a resource for advocates, providing resources, background information and, most importantly, in the Advocate Tools section, concrete recommendations that advocates need to engage constructively with their states to ensure that new models improve care for dual eligibles.

Medicaid serves nearly 60 million Americans, including many with complex and high-cost health care needs. The Integrated Care Resource Center is designed to help inform States about innovative solutions for delivering coordinated health care for Medicaid’s high-need, high-cost beneficiaries, with the goal of improving the quality and reducing the costs of care.

In 2014, most homeless people will become Medicaid-eligible under the Affordable Care Act. Many homeless people have physical and behavioral health conditions for which they seek care through frequent use of emergency rooms and inpatient hospitalization, at considerable cost in public resources. Medicaid reimbursement is an important source of funding for services that help homeless people succeed in housing and stop such inappropriate use of crisis health services.

This portion of the Center for PAS website presents various data and resources related to Personal Assistance Services by state. Recent updates include two sets of information concerning Medicaid home-and community-based services (HCBS). Users can select a state or select a specific topic such as state statistics, program data, and other PAS projects.

Autism spectrum disorders are among the fastest-growing developmental disability diagnosis in the US. This growing number highlights the need to learn more about the services & supports that are currently available for adults with ASD, & consider those that will be needed throughout their adult lifespan. The purpose of the study was to investigate how people with ASD are being served across states in HCBS, including service eligibility, state trends specific to autism services & lessons learned.