Data

Research from Mathematica's disability experts offers findings on programs to help move people with disabilities off the beneficiary rolls & into employment. As part of the 7-year evaluation of the Ticket to Work program, a recent report looks at the experiences of employment service providers after the Social Security Administration revised regulations to address challenges in the original program. The SSA successfully educated providers about revised regulations & instituted related supports.

Examine new state-by-state estimates of public and private health spending from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), published in the online journal, Medicare and Medicaid Research Review. Also available, a webcast with an expert panel offering perspectives on the trends within and across states, as well as the outlook for policy efforts to control costs, including provisions of the Affordable Care Act and various state initiatives.

This Guide highlights key disability concerns to officials and experts responsible for emergency planning in their communities. It seeks to assist them in developing plans that will take into account the needs and insights of people with disabilities before, during, and after emergencies. It also is designed to help emergency managers, planners, and responders make the best use of resources in the emergency preparedness planning process.

This Toolkit provides information for communities interested in working together to develop a one-call or one-click service for transportation to fit their own circumstances. On November 9th, the Federal Transit Administration announced $34.6 million would be awarded to 55 communities for resource centers. Review the website for practical guides and tools on implementation. Additionally there are community profiles and webinars to provide best practice examples.

This survey contains daily private-pay rates for private & semi-private rooms in licensed nursing homes, monthly base rates for assisted living communities, hourly rates for home health aides from licensed agencies & agency-provided homemaker companion services, & daily rates for adult day services across the US. Costs for this survey were calculated for each service provider in an area & were aggregated across all providers to compute a statewide average cost.

Medicaid officials in every state are enacting a variety of cost cutting measures as states’ spending is projected to increase 28.7% in FY2012 to make up for the loss of federal stimulus money. The survey finds cost containment actions ranging from restrictions on payments to providers & benefits, to new copayments for beneficiaries & additional efforts to contain the costs of prescription drugs. States are also trying to make their programs more efficient through a number of procedures.

Two new surveys recently released by the National Family Caregivers Association reveals what family caregivers fear most: first, their loved one's general health and physical decline, and second, the fear that Alzheimer's will take away their loved one's ability to communicate. A second survey tinds Family Caregivers are most concerned about respite care, personal health and finances.

This report is the latest in a series on expenditures for Medicaid waivers authorized under Section 1915(c) of the Social Security Act, also known as home and community-based services waivers. For the first time, the tables include state-reported data for 1915(c) waiver services provided through managed care programs that are not identifiable in the state CMS 64 reports. Thomson Reuters collected these data for FY 2008 and FY 2009.

Despite more than $428 billion in spending in FY2008 to assist working-age people with disabilities, services provided are often fragmented, confusing, & less effective than they could be. This brief explains how the government serves a caretaker role. Authors point out that this model runs contrary to the goal of maximizing self-sufficiency embraced by the Americans with Disabilities Act & fails to direct funds to help those with disabilities join, remain in, or return to the workforce.

After a systematic review and development process, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has adopted new data standards for race, ethnicity, sex, primary language and disability status. Identifying disparities and effectively targeting and monitoring efforts to reduce them has been limited by a lack of specificity, uniformity and quality in data collection and reporting procedures. Review the Final Collection Standards required by Section 4302 of the Affordable Care Act.