Vermont

Review this policy brief which summarizes 15 states' preliminary proposals to better coordinate care for people who are in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The design contracts are an outgrowth of new efforts under the health reform law to develop service delivery and payment models that integrate care for the nation’s nearly 9 million "dual eligibles," whose medical needs and health care costs typically exceed those of other Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

To improve beneficiary care and reduce unnecessary expenditures, a number of states have developed programs and initiatives aimed at improving the coordination and management of care for dual eligibles—beneficiaries enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare for their health care services. This report reviews the experiences in nine states to determine the lessons that can be learned from experience.

The estimated economic value of family caregivers’ unpaid contributions contribution was approximately $450 billion in 2009. If family caregivers were no longer available, the economic cost to the U.S. health care and long-term services and supports systems would increase astronomically. This report updates national and individual state estimates of the economic value of family care using the most current available data, and provides recommendations for taking care of the caregivers.

This study evaluated impacts on employment and earnings levels among people with disabilities of eliminating the cash cliff aspect of Social Security Disability Insurance, in which beneficiaries lose their entire cash benefit when their earnings become too high. Findings demonstrated that an SSDI offset can have a significant effect on the SGA earnings rate of beneficiaries, but that the effect may be limited to a subset of individuals, and may be enhanced when paired with healthcare protection.

Since 1988, Thomson Reuters has produced annual reports on state Medicaid spending for long-term services and supports (LTSS). One limitation to the reports has been that LTSS spending provided through Medicaid managed care programs often is not identified. This report presents estimated Federal Fiscal Year 2008 and 2009 managed care spending not included in previous LTSS expenditures reports. These estimates are based on data provided by states with managed LTSS programs.

How can states provide outreach and resources to employers in order to encourage and support them in hiring individuals with disabilities? Explore the "Abilities" newsletter archive in order to see examples of the electronic newsletter to employers produced every other month by the state of Vermont. May be helpful for other MIG states working to reach out to employers.

This report provides the latest national and state data on enrollment and spending for individuals enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare, also known as dual eligibles. There were about 8.9 million dual eligibles in 2007. Dual eligibles are among the sickest and poorest individuals covered by either program. Although they comprised 15% of Medicaid enrollment, dual eligibles accounted for 39% ($121 billion) of Medicaid spending for medical services & for more than a quarter of Medicare spending.

Are you looking for state data on people who are simultaneously enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid? Find a number of useful interactive tables, charts, and graphs including Medicaid spending by service, spending per dual eligible, dual eligible enrollment, duals as a percentage of Medicaid enrollees, and more.

Unemployment of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) continues to be a significant public policy concern. This report looks at statistics over a 20-year period from several national data sets that address the status of employment and economic self-sufficiency for this population, and contains an overview of national trends, an in-depth perspective on how states collect and use employment data, and an Appendix with individual state and national profiles.

America's rural communities contain the nation's highest concentrations of older people. Learn about the results of a 13-year, $13-million national program created in 1992 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NCB Capital Impact to develop affordable assisted living models, with a focus on smaller and rural communities and low-income seniors. Learn about the strategy, program design, implementation, results and lessons learned.