Policy alerts, briefs, letters & papers

This report summarizes a study supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examining how 18 states simplified the Medicaid eligibility process. Study Highlights: The type & extent of Medicaid application simplification measures, times which simplification occured, contact types varied to assist Medicaid eligible individuals with the application, Medicaid budget cuts are likely to negatively impact the application process.

This report summarizes a study supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examining how states are addressing declining enrollments in Medicaid by renewing outreach. A decline in Medicaid enrollments in recent years and the creation of the Children’s Health Insurance Program prompted many states to undertake renewed outreach efforts to those potentially eligible for medical assistance. The extent and nature of these outreach efforts, however, have varied widely across states.

In Sept. 2003, CMS released the first in a series of communications on home and community-based services (HCBS) quality. The purpose of this seventh in the series of HCBS Quality Communications is to share the most recent status report on the progress CMS has made in implementing the “CMS Future Actions for HCBS Quality in 2003 - Status Updates.” CMS recently provided this status report to the General Accounting Office (GAO), at its request. Letter referred to as HCBS Quality Communication #7.

In Sept 2003, CMS released the first in a series of communications on quality that transmitted a letter from Secretary Thompson to Senator Grassley and Senator Breaux regarding the “CMS Future Actions for HCBS Quality in 2003.” This letter is the most recent correspondence from Secretary Thompson to Senator Grassley and Senator Breaux transmitting a follow up report on the progress CMS has made in implementing. This letter is also referred to as CMS Quality Communication #5.

This letter dated September 11, 2003 is the first in a series of communications on quality in home and community-based services (HCBS). These communications will inform you of current CMS efforts, new technical assistance products, and future CMS activities related to improving HCSBS quality. This letter is also referred to as CMS Quality Communication #1.

About half of Medicaid LTC spending is for the elderly; the rest goes for services to non-elderly disabled people, especially people with developmental disabilities. There is wide variation in the resources states are currently devoting to LTC. In coming years, different rates of population aging may shift the financial burdens among states. One result may be growing interest in reassessing the federal & state roles in financing. This paper examines the implications for state Medicaid programs.

This bulletin from the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services focuses on the operation of what have come to referred to as \"supports\" waiver programs - i.e., Medicaid home & community-based waiver programs that offer a broad, flexible array of comparatively low cost services and supports that are intended primarily to assist individuals living in their own home or the home of their family to avoid placement in a licensed, out-of-home residential facility.

Included here are several documents pertaining to New Hampshire's ADRC Advisory Board. These documents include: A participant evaluation form, a member invitation letter, kickoff meeting materials, and a cover letter to consumers.

These two papers outline ways governors can support caregivers who assist people who need in-home services. State Support, lists strategies to help both kinds of caregivers as they restructure their LTC systems. A Lifetime of Health & Dignity recommends that officials inform home care workers about their eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit, assist in the development of employer health insurance purchasing pools, & connect low-wage workers to support systems.

This letter clarifies the policy of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), formerly the Health Care Financing Administration, as it relates to the enrollment of Medicare eligible beneficiaries in Medicaid managed care.