New York

Since 2002, MetLife Mature Market Institute has gathered data on the costs of long-term care in institutional and community-based settings. This 2008 report looks at home care and adult day services. Costs are broken down by state, metropolitan statistical area (MSA), and “rest of state,” or areas not in a MSA. Home care costs are measured in hourly private pay rates, and adult day costs are measured in daily private pay rates.

This report provides a summary of how long-term services and supports (LTSS) are financed and describes factors that contribute to uncertainty of the future costs for LTSS, including changes in how LTSS will be delivered. Three projections of future LTSS spending for senior populations under different scenarios are offered. These scenarios differ based on projecting the number of people with varying functional limitations and the resulting need for varying degrees of LTSS.

The Department of Health and Human Services announces $36 million in new grant programs to 28 states to help older Americans, veterans, and people with Alzheimer’s disease to remain in their homes and communities. About $19 million of this involves a collaboration between the Administration on Aging and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The grants are designed to reach people who are not eligible for Medicaid but are at high risk for nursing home placement and to spend-down to Medicaid.

AARP Bulletin Online has compiled a state-by-state list of local supports to help you quickly access transportation in your community. More than 6,000 transit systems nationwide provide some form of service to older riders, from reduced fares to use of low-floor vehicles to personalized training sessions. This resource puts information about these options in one place.

This memorandum and tables present data on Medicaid 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver expenditures from Federal Fiscal Years 2002 through 2007. Each HCBS waiver is classified by population served in order to show the distribution of HCBS waiver expenditures across long term care populations.

This memorandum presents data on Medicaid long-term care expenditures in Federal Fiscal Year 2007 (Oct 2006-Sept 2007). Table 1 presents national data on Medicaid expenditures for Long-Term Care from 1995-2007. Other tables present state-by-state data for Nursing Homes, ICF/MR, Personal Care, HCBS Waivers, Home Health, Home Care, 1115 Waivers focused on HCBS, and other Medicaid services.

Since 2001, the U.S. Department of Labor has funded 20 Customized Employment and 6 Workforce Action demonstration projects to identify policy mechanisms that effectively support customized employment. This report gives the background, key findings, successful strategies, obstacles, and analysis of the different projects. The main work product is a set of local, state, and federal policy recommendations generated by the initiative.

Mathematica researchers examine the effects that the Medicaid Buy-In program has had on participants’ earnings. The first brief looks at whether earnings increase after enrollment. The second profiles the workers that earn the highest wages. The last brief profiles all Buy-In participants and compares earnings data by state. Each brief analyzes the traits of the workers and different state programs to identify successful strategies.

How many people served by home and community-based mental health services in your state are employed? This DataNote explores this question and illustrates a wide variance in outcomes between states, suggesting the need for further research to identify and implement best practices.

Thanks to the steadily increasing demand for home care, the second fastest-growing occupation in the country is that of personal and home care aides (PHCAs). Yet PHCA wages - which were low to begin with - are failing to keep up with inflation nationwide. A new publication looks at the decline in inflation-adjusted wages. Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it charts the wages received by personal and home care aides in all 50 states and the nation over a seven-year period.