Washington

First illustrating the US workers’ compensation system, this article continues to detail worker’s compensation programs and how they function. A historical overview and the basic objective of worker’s compensation laws are also reviewed. The article ends with a discussion of issues, challenges, and promising practices.

Looking for profiles of each State’s Home-and Community-Based Service (HCBS) programs? This project report covers the components of HCBS programs under multiple funding streams. It includes an overview of findings from cross-state comparisons with accompanying tables and charts and individual profiles of 48 states and Washington, DC. The findings are intended to provide states with information that can help guide their efforts to expand and improve HCBS programs.

This is the third report in a series, from Mathematica's five-year evaluation of the Money Follows Person demonstration, aimed at helping Medicaid enrollees transition, from long-term care institutions to the community. It describes states’ early implementation experiences and state transition activity as of December 2008. Also discussed, are the challenges that states have encountered in trying to launch the program, and implications for making fundamental changes in the long-term care system.

As part of Research on Program Management Techniques by States to Rebalance their Long Term Care Systems, Final Case Studies were conducted in each State for the time period ending December 2007. These Case Studies focus particularly on the reflections of State government officials on rebalancing goals, accomplishments, and next steps as they reflect on all the State’s experiences in moving towards more community-based services.

In FY07 CMS awarded 13 PCP Implementation Grants. The purpose twofold 1) to change the basic model of care planning from one that is directed by the needs of institutions and provider agencies to one that responds to the needs of the individual, and 2) to assist states and territories in developing ways to identify the strengths, capacities, and preferences. This report presents factors that facilitated and/or impeded progress and how stakeholders were included in development and implementation.

This report is the result of a study exploring management techniques and programs States have put in place to rebalance their Medicaid long-term supportive services. It summarizes the methods, products and findings of this project then suggests conclusions and recommendations for State officials, legislators, advocates, and providers and CMS on ways to increase and improve LTSS systems for people with disabilities, enhance participant choice, and reduce reliance on institutions.

In 2005 CMS funded a national evaluation by a consortium led by the RAND Corporation to study the implementation and outcomes of ten funded initiatives. These initiatives were meant to improve the recruitment and retention of the Direct Service Community Workforce. Review the report and listen to a recorded webinar where the author's present their findings.

In an effort to understand the services and strategies that sustain employment, the state of Washington conducted an evaluation of Washington’s Healthcare for Workers with Disabilities Program. This program is the state’s version of Medicaid Buy-In, and the results show that enrollees are working more hours, earning more money, paying health insurance premiums, contributing more in taxes relying less on food stamps.

The CMS website has been updated with the new 508 compliant MSIS Medicaid eligibility and claims tables for federal fiscal years 2005 through 2008 for 31 states. Individual or groups of tables may be selected using the identified dynamic list options. The standard MSIS fiscal year tables will be updated periodically as additional states submit their data for the full fiscal year.

This brief summarizes lessons in offering more home and community-based services from states at the forefront of the effort. It describes current options for state Medicaid programs and draws on interviews with state officials to provide details about specific policies and procedures in states.