Long Term Services and Supports

ACL has awarded a five-year grant totaling over $6 million to establish a national center to expand and strengthen the direct care workforce across the country. In support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to strengthening the care economy, this initiative will provide technical assistance to states and service providers and facilitate collaboration with stakeholders to improve recruitment, retention, training, and professional development of the direct care workers who provide the critical services that make it possible for people with disabilities and older adults to live in their own homes and communities.

ACL released its first comprehensive report on the accomplishments of Older Americans Act (OAA) Title III, VI, and VII programs. Enacted in 1965, the OAA created the foundation for a comprehensive system of services and supports that enables millions of older adults in this country to continue to live independently as they age. Today, programs funded by the OAA provide essential services to older adults, targeting those with the greatest economic or social need, particularly low-income and minority persons, older individuals with limited English proficiency, and older persons living in rural areas. The programs play a vital role in helping to maintain the health and well-being of millions of older adults and their caregivers.

This infographic has facts and statistics about programs serving older adults and the experiences of older Americans.

Experts at The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and the state of Tennessee say families in poverty with disabilities in Tennessee and nationwide face difficulty both accessing and utilizing long term services and supports (LTSS) in both rural and urban areas. This article breaks down issues of accessibility across the country by discussing how affordable housing, transportation, and social determinants of health affect individuals differently based on their ability and region.

ADvancing States is pleased to announce the release of a new issue brief, Addressing Nursing Facility Financing Challenges during MLTSS Program Development developed in collaboration with Milliman. This brief is intended to shed light on the complex and often-misunderstood relationship between nursing facility financing and Medicaid delivery system design.

A Master Plan for Aging (MPA) is a cross-sector, state-led strategic planning process that can help states transform the infrastructure and coordination of services that support older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers.This brief outlines unexpected benefits of the MPA process, and illustrates how they can help states respond to new priorities and challenges, such as public health emergencies and health equity.

The majority of individuals who need long-term services and supports (LTSS) in the United States rely on unpaid assistance from family and friends. The economic value of the unpaid care they provide is estimated to be over $470 billion annually. Unmet needs and waiting lists for Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) place significant strain on individuals with disabilities and their families. This report explores how increasing access to HCBS services can reduce out-of-pocket costs for families and strengthen employment and financial wellbeing of family caregivers.

This report, written by RTI International and the Center for Health Care Strategies, combines information gathered from an environmental scan and case studies to provide an overview of the current landscape of Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) that provide expanded supplemental benefits. It includes their initial experiences and challenges with developing and administering the benefits to their members.

In this blog post, Nancy Archibald, MHA, MBA, Associate Director of Integrated Care at CHCS, describes the state of Indiana's plan to launch Medicaid managed long-term services and supports in 2024. The state is receiving grant funding through Advancing Medicare & Medicaid Integration, an Arnold Ventures initiative developed in partnership with CHCS that assists states in filling resource gaps in designing and launching integrated care programs.

On January 12, 2022, CMS released the Medicaid LTSS Annual Expenditures Report for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2019. This report discusses the LTSS rebalancing trends and growth in expenditures for home and community-based services as compared to institutional spending during the time period reviewed.