Utah

A get acquainted teleconference for 2003 and 2004 Family to Family grantees with Kathy Rama of CMS and facilitated by Darrell Jones of ILRU on November 10, 2004.

This report provides analysis of NFT grantees annual reports (2002-2003). It includes aggregate data on the number of people who left or where diverted from a nursing facility, transition costs, length of nursing facility stay prior to transition, type of housing after transition, and age at time of transition.

This report describes the FY ‘01 & FY ‘02 Grantees’ accomplishments & progress, using information from 10/1/02 to 9/30/03 (Year Two of grant period for FY ‘01 Grantees & Year One of grant period for FY ‘02 Grantees). The report describes grant activities in six major areas: Consumer Direction & Control, Access to LTC Services & Supports, State Budgeting & Reimbursement Rates & Methodologies, Service Creation/Modification, LTC Service & Support Workforce, Quality Management Mechanism.

On October 5, 2004, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced $31 million in grants to 31 states to help people with disabilities or long-term illnesses live in their homes and participate fully in community life. The grants were awarded under the New freedom Initiative and are known as Real Choice Systems Change Grants. A total of 52 grants were awarded in nine categories. The press release, which describes the grant categories, and list of grantees are available.

Some state agencies use online applications for assessing and determining eligibility for health and social service programs. This issue brief highlights some of the key considerations for states moving toward online applications. The discussion includes advantages, disadvantages, and some state examples.

Families USA has released Medicaid: Good Medicine for State Economies predicting the impact state Medicaid spending will have on business activity, jobs, & wages in 2005. The report argues that extending the $10 billion in fiscal relief provided by Congress to the states last year, through enhanced Federal participation in Medicaid, through the end of fiscal year 2005 would help strengthen state economies by generating even more business activity, jobs,& wages. Includes data for every state.

This document describes Utah’s efforts to educate nursing home residents about community-based long-term care options. Group and individual educational sessions and assessments are conducted through organizations knowledgeable about community services. The document provides further information on the implementation of this program.

The Utah Family Council is a non-profit organization that provides support to all families of people with disabilities, regardless of whether they receive public funding. This document describes this program, which uses funding from the Self-Determination Grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to increase availability. The report describes the program and its implementation.

This memorandum presents data on Medicaid long term care expenditures in Federal Fiscal Year 2003 (September 2002 through September 2003). The accompanying tables present data on Medicaid Expenditures for Long-Term Care services from 1991 to 2003.

This memorandum and the accompanying tables present data on Medicaid 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver expenditures from Federal Fiscal Years 1998 through 2003.