Data

How do dually eligible beneficiaries affect state MIG grant programs? Rhode Island and the University of RI, College of Pharmacy produced a chart book which highlights demographics, healthcare services, expenditures and the variation in cost by settings of care for seniors and people with disabilities who were enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid between 1995-2005. Objectives and findings are included. An sample of this book is attached and could be helpful to other MIG grantees.

How can ADRCs increase their outreach and strengthen their relationship with diverse populations and community-based organizational partners? This brief provides an overview of cultural competence including its definition and how it can be best implemented. Also included are key demographics, barriers to culturally competent service provision, organizational assessment tools, practices and standards, and a list of cultural competence resources that may be useful for ADRC staff.

An expert explores patterns in services and spending under long-term care programs and examines the rise in HCBS, the existence of waivers from federal and state coverage requirements, and the changing populations who use long-term care services. He concludes with a discussion on the need to reduce the fragmentation and lack of coordination in LTC services by removing the divide between Medicare and Medicaid programs. Listen to the recorded webinar and find Mr. Ng’s published paper.

While long term care costs continue to rise nationally, the cost for in-home care is rising at a much slower pace. Complete national and state cost of care data can be found in the full report. Other reports include an Executive Summary of key findings, detailed methodology information and listings of counties involved in the survey. Also find an interactive map detailing costs within each state.

What are the long term effects of MIG programs on wages? The state of Virginia evaluated the long-term impact of Vocational Rehabilitative (VR) services on employment, earnings and services provisions. Preliminary findings indicate that VR services have a substantial positive impact on future employment probabilities but very little impact on wages. A sample of this data-filled report is attached, and could be helpful to other states conducting similar studies.

What is the net fiscal impact of the IHSS Program on the public sector? The program, which is available to low-income elderly and disabled persons, provides services to recipients in their own homes and can enhance quality of life by making it easier to live at home. This report concludes that the state maximizes its net fiscal impact by targeting IHSS services to those recipients who are most likely to enter a nursing home in the absence of the program.

Policy makers desire a uniform assessment tool that works well for adults of all ages, but disability assessment can only be as uniform as the underlying measurement is. If ADL or IADL/ADL measures are biased by age, their use with adults of different ages could be misleading. Findings of this study indicate that as demand for community services increases among adults of all ages, an expanded IADL/ADL measure is more useful than ADL.

Looking for information on the CLASS Act? This report compares provisions in both the House and Senate health care reform legislation, identifies key differences between the two bills, and discusses federal budget implications as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the CMS. It also discusses cost and financing for long-term care services and the current market for private LTC insurance.

Reducing In Home Support Services (IHSS) in California will be costly for taxpayers according to this report, which summarizes and refutes the conclusions of an earlier CA Legislative Analyst’s Office report. It presents what it sees as a more realistic set of assumptions and re-estimates the relative benefits of the IHSS program, considering the savings to the state if it transitioned one third of nursing home residents back into the community.

Learn about the design, methodology and data collection activities for Round 3 of the SSA’s National Beneficiary Survey (NBS). Find descriptive statistics about working-age Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries derived from the national cross-sectional sample of the 2006 NBS. This is the fourth in a series of reports that make up the fifth Ticket to Work evaluation report.