Pennsylvania

In recent years, states have been trying to shift resources from institutional to home and community based long-term care services. This report examines \"transition\" and \"diversion\" policies and practices in eight states. It provides a sense of what state Medicaid programs are doing or could be doing to promote diversion.

This new interactive online tool provides the latest key data for each state’s Medicaid program and the population it serves, allowing for easy comparisons of one state to any other state or to the nation as a whole, on a selection of important indicators. Utilizing figures from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured and drawn directly from statehealthfacts.org, this tool provides customized figures and tables that can be easily printed as fact sheets, emailed or saved.

The 50-state annual survey of budget conditions and Medicaid cost containment actions in FY2005-06 shows that all states implemented and planned more Medicaid cost-containment actions, but are also implementing expansions as the gap between Medicaid spending growth and state tax revenue narrowed.

This newly released biennial study verifies that low-income people with disabilities are experiencing a national housing affordability crisis. The Priced Out in 2004 study compares the monthly SSI income of more than 4 million Americans with disabilities to the fair market rental rates for efficiencies and modest one-bedroom apartments in every housing market in the country. Review more facts, figures and examples about housing and the national rent increases which greatly exceed SSI Benefits.

This is the fifth national survey of the direct-care workforce published by the National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce. It examines public policy actions taken by states to strengthen the direct-care workforce, and updates information collected in prior surveys. Responses were received from 38 states, representing a 76 percent return rate. The report contains data tables with survey results and details national initiatives pertaining to the direct care workforce.

Although consumer direction is a growing trend in publicly supported HCBS programs across the states, we know relatively little about how this approach is implemented in the states. This national study aims to describe the role of consumer direction in publicly funded family caregiver support services and HCBS programs with a family caregiving component. This report addresses three questions with the intent of informing policy discussions.

Rutgers Center for State Health Policy/National Academy for State Health Policy Community Living Exchange Collaborative organized a site visit for Money Follows the Person grantees to learn about the Pennsylvania Community Choice Initiative. The initiative was designed to expedite access to home and community based services to avoid admission to a nursing home. The site visit was attended by grantees from California, Idaho, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey and Texas.

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

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.

Medicaid is the major public payer of community services and supports for working age adults with serious mental illnesses. This handbook explains how existing Medicaid options and waivers are used by states to finance a broad range of community services and supports for adults with serious mental illnesses, and demonstrates what aspects of state-of-the art community services and supports for this population are funded by Medicaid.