South Carolina

The State of South Carolina implemented a state-wide automated monitoring system whose real time data allows for monitoring & verification of the providers delivering services under the state's home and community-based services waivers. The toll-free number allows providers to check-in and check-out as they deliver services in a participant's home, while the database inferfaces with claims data to minimize fraudulent billing. The database has empowered waiver service recipients.

South Carolina developed a simplified provider agreement to make Medicaid enrollment easier for providers that normally do not provide Medicaid services. The State piloted the agreement in an Independence Plus Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Waiver and in a Nursing Home Transition Grant. The six-item agreement contains only the minimum federal requirements for Medicaid providers and can allow Medicaid participants to receive services, equipment, etc. from non-traditional providers.

The South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs has produced a flowchart for the Quality Assurance Review Process. The process is performed by First Health and relates to the overview of the contract.

The South Carolina ADRC also known as South Carolina Access Plus has developed a number of tools for assessment. The evaluation team uses this protocol to interview ADRC staff members and partners for the first time and then later after an initial baseline interview has been performed.

This comprehensive manual from the State of South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs outlines the four basic components of the Quality Management Review and includes the protocols and quality measures that are used as part of this process. The PowerPoint tool and new manual are used together to train providers on indicators and changes made from previous years.

The Independence Plus Initiative was established to give states expanded opportunities within Medicaid to allow for consumer direction of long-term services and supports. The consumer direction movement continues to evolve rapidly, and this calls for federal and state resources to evaluate new and changing programs. This issue paper explores the difference between IP and Cash and Counseling, the 1115 demonstration, IP and HCBS Waivers, and outlines policy implications.

A wage pass-through is an additional allocation of funds provided through Medicaid reimbursement for the express purpose of increasing compensation for direct-care workers. Twenty-one states have implemented these programs in expectation that doing so will help address the worker shortage. The purpose of this issue brief is to: describe the structure in selected states; summarize what is known about the impact of these programs on recruitment and retention; and identify key design elements.

The sixth biennial edition of the AARP Public Policy Institute's databook, presents an overview of long-term care in each state plus the District of Columbia by using numbers, graphs, charts, and maps. Data includes each state's demographics, need for LTC and HCBS services, the number of LTC workers per thousand people aged 65 and over, urban average for private-pay home health aide wages, and CNA hours per resident day. Each state is compared with others through rankings and national averages.

The survey results highlight inconsistencies and gaps in training, testing, and other pre-employment requirements for nursing assistants. The results from the nurse aide registries are presented in a series of charts. The survey notes who pays for pre-certification training in each state, whether candidates are allowed to become certified by passing the test without undergoing training, whether nurse aides pay a fee to be licensed or certified, who does criminal background checks, and more.

The Compendium contains basic information about each of the Real Choice Systems Change Grantees. The Compendium will help you learn more about how these grants will be used to allow more people of all ages with a disability or long term illness to live and participate in their communities. Real Choice Systems Change Grantees will also find the Compendium useful to identify other Grantees with similar goals and activities. The fourth edition of the Compendium replaces all previous editions.