Policy alerts, briefs, letters & papers

Through the Aging Services Networks, including State Units on Aging, Area Agencies on Aging, local service providers, the Administration on Aging (AoA) works to provide services designed to mitigate the effects of declining physical health and functioning experienced by frail older adults. This brief, the sixth in a series that presents findings from AoA’s National Survey of OAA Program Participants, explores the use of transportation services among OAA Title III program participants.

Massachusetts is the first state to finalize a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to test CMS's capitated financial alignment model for beneficiaries who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. This policy brief summarizes the MOU terms in the several key areas, including enrollment, care delivery model, benefits, financing, beneficiary protections and monitoring and evaluation.

This document provides an overview of the joint efforts of states and the CMS to develop more integrated ways of paying for and delivering health care to the 9 million people who are eligible for both the Medicare and Medicaid programs. As an outgrowth of the Affordable Care Act, CMS is reviewing proposals from states to test two new models to align Medicare and Medicaid benefits and financing for dual eligible beneficiaries with the goal of delivering better coordinated care and reducing costs.

The number of workers with eldercare responsibilities is on the rise. This trend highlights the need to better understand the impact of family caregiving on work, and how working caregivers can better manage their work and caregiving responsibilities. The fact sheet highlights research about how caregivers juggle commitments and how responsibilities can interfere with employment.

A new paper provides an overview of the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage (FMAP), the formula which is used to determine the federal government's share of the cost of covered services in state Medicaid programs. It also reviews the various temporary changes to the FMAP formula that have taken place over the history of the Medicaid program. Beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) establishes highly enhanced FMAPs for the cost of services to low-income adults.

This technical assistance tool is a product of CHCS' Implementing the Roadmaps: Innovations in Long-Term Supports and Services program. Through this program, CHCS is helping participating states to rebalance and better manage an array of long-term services and supports for Medicaid populations. This brief highlights ways for states to participate in the Balancing Incentive Program, which offers enhanced federal financing to fund non-institutionally based LTSS within their Medicaid programs.

This brief establishes a basis for key system transformation activities necessary to create a high quality, person centered care system for older adults and people with disabilities. What is the ideal person-centered system? Read about ways to unite the fragmented system.

This report covers the issues of eldercare and the workplace. It identifies discrimination in the workplace encountered by workers with eldercare responsibilities as an emerging trend and highlights the limited protections for working caregivers. The report calls for developing public and private solutions to ensure that workers with eldercare responsibilities receive equal employment opportunity and are protected from workplace discrimination.

This document sets forth the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s plan on aging in accordance with Older Americans Act requirements. The plan describes the mission and strategies of Puerto Rico's Office of the Ombudsman for the Elderly to coordinate services for older adults. The Plan contains information on aging demographics, the mission for the duration of the plan, and sets out goals to tackle issues of an aging population. The Plan is divided in 5 parts.

This article takes a look at who is covered by Medicaid and the important role that Medicaid plays in the lives of many Americans. It also examines Medicaid's role under the Affordable Care Act, how growth in per capita Medicaid spending is slower than growth in private health care spending, how Medicaid improves access to needed health care, and which groups receive the majority of Medicaid spending.