Policy alerts, briefs, letters & papers

Long COVID is characterized by a combination of long lasting symptoms including fatigue, pain, and brain fog that range from mild to debilitating. Symptoms of long COVID can last up to months and are a potential cause of disability. The disability network can serve as a key source of information for those recovering from long COVID. The Administration has directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to coordinate an interagency action plan to address the impacts of long COVID and improve access to services for individuals experiences symptoms and in recovery. The research action plan must specifically include plans to advance the understanding of the health and socioeconomic burdens on individuals affected by long COVID.

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.

Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have gained flexibility to offer a wide range of new supplemental benefits and to target benefits to members with specific conditions and individual need. This data insight provides an analysis of non-medical supplemental benefit growth since 2020, and focuses on the following: Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI), which first became available in 2020 through the passage of the CHRONIC Care Act and a set of five Expanded Primarily Health-Related Benefits (EPHRB), which first became available in 2019 after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded the definition of what could be considered “primarily health-related."

The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Home and Community-Based Services has released their first issue brief. The brief explores the medical, social, and biopsychosocial models of disability, their relationship with evolving frameworks of person-centeredness, and implications for providers and others who deliver services and supports.

This brief shares data on state policy choices about Medicaid HCBS, including target populations, functional eligibility criteria, financial eligibility criteria, waiver waiting lists, benefit packages, out-of-pocket costs, use of capitated managed care, self-direction opportunities, covered provider types, electronic visit verification systems, and provider reimbursement rates.

The brief from the KKF shares state-level data on HCBS spending and the number of people receiving Medicaid in FY 2020. The data were collected in KFF’s 19th survey of state officials administering Medicaid HCBS programs in all 50 states and DC.

On Friday, January 14, 2022 the White House announced that free at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests are now available for order online. Those who do not have internet access or who need additional assistance with ordering can call 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489) to place their orders. The Eldercare Locator and the Disability Information and Assistance Line (DIAL) also can assist older adults and people with disabilities with placing orders, and connect people to accessible instructions.

COVID-19 is a long-lasting and complex disaster situation involving a public health emergency and an economic crisis, with particularly acute impacts for older adults, people with disabilities, and others with certain health conditions. States are responding with changes in policies and procedures to ensure individuals have access to public benefit programs (e.g. Medicare Savings Programs, LIS/Extra Help, SNAP, and LIHEAP). ADvancing States has a new brief highlighting where states are with benefit access and enrollment since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results in the brief comes from the 2021 ADvancing States Membership Survey: COVID-19 Benefits Access and Enrollment, a follow-up to the 2020 survey.

The NIDILRR-funded Community Living Policy Center published a research brief discussing the results of a recent study of the long-term services and supports needs of people with disabilities and older adults in the US. The study explores how many people need more services than they currently receive and the connection between unmet HCBS needs and community living and health outcomes. The brief describes study findings and potential next steps for researchers and service providers to address gaps in services and supports.

In a November 1 informational bulletin, CMS encourages states to adopt two strategies to help more people enroll in Medicare Savings Programs and State Health Insurance Assistance Programs. In addition to informing the advocacy work of the aging and disability networks, the bulletin also includes information that can help our networks identify older adults and people with disabilities who likely would be eligible for the programs.