Minnesota

State policy makers and consumer advocates are advancing programs and policies to support community living for all individuals. Operationalizing principles of “self direction,” “consumer direction,” or “participant direction” entails many details. This State Policy in Practice technical assistance document offers concrete information and specific state examples on ways to implement participant-directed planning and individualized budgeting.

This report describes the FY 2002 and FY 2003 Grantees’ challenges and progress using information provided by the Grantees during the reporting period October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2004. The report describes grant activities in four major LTC systems areas: Access to Long-Term Care Services and Supports, Services, Supports, and Housing, Administrative and Monitoring Infrastructure and Long-Term Care Service and Support Workforce

This document contains grant summaries and contact information for the Family to Family Health Care Information and Education Centers. CMS has awarded 19 Family to Family grants. HRSA has awarded 6 similar grants.

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has updated and improved the Medicaid Benefits Online Database, an interactive tool providing easy access to information on services provided by each state's Medicaid program. This site contains Medicaid Benefits survey data from 2003 and 2004 with information about benefits covered, limits, co-payments and reimbursement methodologies for the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Territories.

The Minnesota ADRC utilizes the following two screening tools to assess the long term care needs of individuals and persons with developmental disabilities. Questions include general information, an assessment section, history and professional conclusions.

MinnesotaHelp.com is the state ADRC information network and they have shared a number of resources offering information on their Information and Assistance Datebase. Included in this posting are three presentations: a. An overview of the database b. the ADRC role c. Consumer use of resources. The technology business case summaries the impact of the database system. The technology project management document details the roles and responsibilities of individuals who operate the resources.

This report presents information aggregated from 13 F2F HICs and provides an early indication of the extent and importance of the activities of these critical family centers. The data indicates that F2F HICs are steadily increasing their capacity to document what they do. Both families and professionals frequently seek expertise and assistance from F2F HICs. The most common concerns reported relate to needs for adequate health care financing and links to community resources.

The Minnesota Association of Centers for Independent Living (MACIL) prepared <i>A Consumer Guide for Planning Your Move from a Nursing Home</i>. This comprehensive guidebook assists with the relocation decisions as consumers transition from nursing homes into the community.

This call hosted Emily Fuerste, Executive Director of the No Place Like Home Communities in Minnesota. The NPLHC creates supportive affordable housing for adults with disabilities, helping build financial and emotional equity in independent lives as they travel the road to their full potential. Their goal is to develop a rent-to-own model which will allow all people with disabilities to gain financial equity.

This memorandum presents state-by-state data on Medicaid long term care expenditures in Federal Fiscal Year 2004 (October 2003 through September 2004). The accompanying tables present data on Medicaid Expenditures for Long-Term Care services from 1992 to 2004. A new table this year shows the effect of supplemental nursing facility payments in some states on expenditure data. A separate file ranks states based on the proportion of LTC spending for community services.