Reports

The Bureau of Labor Statistics in collaboration with the Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability published this month's National Trends on Disability Employment report (nTIDE). Each month this report is published to mark the changes of employment for people with disabilities.

The historical progression of bundled payments from acute care to post-acute care and the growing recognition of the value of HCBS create an interesting opportunity for sustainably integrating medical services with other (LTSS). Building on past lessons from efforts to incorporate community-based LTSS into traditional medical care models, such as care transitions, may help to inform successful future strategies to enable bundles to more efficiently achieve the Triple Aim.

Many individuals with long-term services and supports (LTSS) needs either reside in institutions or are at risk for institutionalization. Rebalancing care to provide LTSS in the community is one goal of the federal Financial Alignment Initiative for Medicare-Medicaid enrollees. This profile details the experiences of the Health Plan of San Mateo (HPSM) as it implements a pilot program to help dually eligible individuals in nursing facilities transition back to community living.

Hospital readmissions are a large source of wasteful healthcare spending, and current care transition models are too expensive to be sustainable. One way to circumvent cost-prohibitive care transition programs is complement nurse-staffed care transition programs with those staffed by less expensive nonmedical workers. A major barrier to utilizing nonmedical workers is determining the appropriate time to escalate care to a clinician with a wider scope of practice.

The Alzheimer's Association convened the Alzheimer's Association National Plan Care Support Milestone Workgroup, including experts in clinical care, long-term services and supports, dementia care, and support research, and public policy. The workgroup reviewed the current literature regarding Alzheimer's support and care in the U.S. and on a global scale, and developed several milestones to help create a better care and support system.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Community First Choice (CFC) Final Report to Congress. This CFC benefit allows states the option of adding home and community-based attendant services and supports to their State plans. The CFC report is required by the Affordable Care Act. The findings from four states that have implemented the Community First Choice benefit -- California, Montana, Maryland, and Oregon-- are described in the report

On March 15, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission released the March 2016 Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP. The authorizing statute of MACPAC requires the commission to submit a report to Congress by March 15 and June 15 each year. This report focuses on three aspects of Medicare: Support for safety-net hospitals; delivery of care for people with behavioral health conditions; and coverage for low and moderate income children.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics in collaboration with the Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability published this month's National Trends on Disability Employment report (nTIDE). Each month this report is published to mark the changes of employment for people with disabilities.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released their monthly report for December 2015 on Medicaid and CHIP application, eligibility determination, and enrollment data. States provides data to CMS on factors related to key application, eligibility and enrollment processes using the Medicaid and CHIP Performance Indicator Project. The data is then used to inform CMS on the operations of the programs in each state and to share state performance data publicly.

The National Alliance for Caregiving, in collaboration with Mental Health America and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, released a report surrounding the topic of caregivers of adults with mental illness. "At least 8.4 million Americans are providing care to an adult with an emotional or mental health issue, and nearly three quarters report that caregiving causes high emotional stress." This report examines the inadequacies the families of individuals with mental illness face in the U.S.