Policy alerts, briefs, letters & papers

This document sets forth the State of Minnesota’s plan on aging in accordance with Older Americans Act requirements for FY2007-2010. The plan describes the mission and strategies of the Mississippi Division of Aging & Adult Services 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 empower older adults to be more independent, promote wellness, and expand home and community-based services.

This document sets forth the State of Minnesota’s plan on aging in accordance with Older Americans Act requirements for FY 2011-2013. The plan describes the mission and strategies of the Minnesota Board on Aging to coordinate services for older adults. The Plan contains information on how Minnesota aims to achieve its mission of increasing the population of individuals supported at home and in their communities in order to assure people are living as independently as possible.

This document offers recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Older Americans Act (OAA) services upon its reauthorization. Recommendations are made under each Title of the Act. More general recommendations include increasing interaction and coordination with other federal programs that deliver services for older adults such as the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Senior Corps, and Adult Protective Services.

This policy brief gives background information on what Managed Care is and how it can be used as a model that promotes Medicaid savings. The brief discusses the different factors for success and the quality standards for Medicaid Managed Care.

This study examines the specific capacities that state Medicaid agencies need to monitor the performance of managed LTSS (MLTSS) programs. It sought to identify promising practices in state oversight as well as the monitoring capacities that should be in place when states begin to implement new or expanded MLTSS programs. Lessons were drawn from oversight practices in eight states (AZ, MA, MN, NM, NY, TN, TX, WI) that have many years of experience operating and overseeing MLTSS.

Review additional discussion of assisted living and residential care in the states, and learn more detailed data on assisted living and residential care capacity. Assisted living and other residential settings represent a critical component of the LTSS system for older adults who cannot live alone, but do not require the skilled care provided by nursing homes. In 2010, states reported a total of 51,367 licensed residential care settings with a total capacity of 1,233,690 beds.

What are the fundamental principles of caregiver assessment and why do assessments have an important role in a high-performing long-term services and support system? Caregiver assessment is a systematic process of gathering information about a caregiving situation to identify the specific problems, needs, strengths, and resources of the family caregiver, as well as the ability of the caregiver to contribute to the needs of the care recipient.

This policy brief describes the long-term care insurance (LTCI) industry; in particular, it provides overview information about who buys the product, how much it costs, what the market looks like, and how the government has promoted the purchase of the private LTCI. In addition, this brief covers a variety of topics, including barriers to expansion of private LTCI, the LTC partnership program, and international lessons from another highly-developed country (France).

The Older Americans Act of 1965 created the National Aging Network with many states adopting Area Agencies on Aging at the local level. This brief is a summary of two surveys regarding states’ monitoring practices of their Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and states’ spending rules for their AAAs. All states with Area Agencies on Aging which were surveyed reported that they conduct some monitoring, and most differed in their rules concerning excess funds.

This paper provides a brief overview of the direct-care workforce in the U.S. It uses PHI research to detail many of the issues facing the workforce, including low wages, inadequate benefits, and a lack of career advancement opportunities.