Policy alerts, briefs, letters & papers

This brief analyzes dental service use and cost data for non-elderly Medicaid-enrolled adults by individual, community, and state-level factors. This brief is intended to help stakeholders identify opportunities to improve access to care and, ultimately, achieve sustainable oral health improvements for low-income adults.

This Spotlight from the AARP Public Policy Institute discusses the Medicare home health benefit that serves millions of Americans. The Medicare home health benefit allows many homebound older adults to get skilled care in their homes. This Spotlight includes information about Medicare rules for coverage of home health care services.

Blog post about culture change in aging and disability community-based organizations (CBOs).

This issue brief from the Administration for Community Living describes the nutritional quality of congregate and home-delivered meals offered through the Nutrition Services Program and examines their compliance with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The brief also discusses how the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2010 was used to assess the nutritional quality of the congregate and home-delivered meals.

This letter from CMS is about how they will offer additional flexibilities to help states improve access to and quality of substance use disorder treatment through Medicaid 1115 demonstrations. CMS’s main goal is to support state initiatives to improve access to treatment by requiring less upfront administrative process barriers for approvals of state initiatives to improve access to treatment by requiring less upfront administrative process barriers for approvals of state initiatives.

This fact sheet outlines strategies to help Medicaid stakeholders encourage partnerships between community-based organizations and health care organizations. States can provide: (1) financial support to build and sustain program capacity; (2) assistance in identifying metrics for evaluation; (3) incentives to providers to address social determinants of health; and (4) use of policy levers, including value-based contracts, managed care organization regulations, and state plan amendments.

The brief includes information on disparities in health and disability; innovative approaches that Native communities have used to address identified disparities; how Native communities have used the Older Americans Act and other federal programs that aim to promote health and support community living for Elders; and aspects of successful programs for Native people.

This issue brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation discusses four key issues related to long-term services and supports (LTSS), including institutional and home and community-based services (HCBS) quality, highlighting major legislative and policy changes over the last 30 years. The brief also includes data about LTSS providers and consumers, summarizes key federal laws and policies related to quality, and lists selected federal quality measures.

The purpose of these briefs is to share information for both service providers and policymakers on: Why dementia is such an important issue for the AAPI community; Barriers to dementia detection, treatment, and support for the AAPI community; Recent findings from a research study to test culturally appropriate messages to improve early identification of dementia by engaging adult children and their families; and Recommendations and resources for better reaching the AAPI community.

This brief from the SCAN Foundation summarizes lessons learned and offers recommendations for improving integrated systems of care for people with Medicare and Medicaid, also known as dually eligible individuals. The brief draws from three years of California’s Cal MediConnect evaluation results.