Reports

This Advisory Committee report is open for public review and comment until April 8, 2015. The report describes findings from the Advisory Committee's review of the scientific evidence on diet, nutrition, and health, and will help inform the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines, expected to be released by the end of 2015. The Dietary Guidelines are updated every five years and directly affect all federally-funded nutrition programs.

This GAO report examines (1) the extent to which Medicaid enrollees have private insurance, and (2) the state and CMS initiatives to improve third-party liability (TPL). Given the findings in the report, GAO recommends that CMS routinely monitor and share information regarding key TPL efforts and challenges, as well as provide guidance on state oversight of TPL efforts conducted by Medicaid managed care plans.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides new but limited opportunities to promote or fund specialized transportation services for older people and adults with disabilities. This paper explains how states can use these largely untapped options to expand services for targeted low-income populations with mobility needs. It also presents two case studies illustrating how the Atlanta region and the state of Connecticut are making this work.

As low-income adults covered under Medicaid expansion become eligible for and transition into Medicare, these individuals will face higher cost-sharing requirements. This report describes programs and policy options that could help low-income Medicare beneficiaries.

This final report shares results from the 2014 pilot of the National Core Indicators-Aging and Disabilities (NCI-AD) Consumer Survey in Georgia, Minnesota, and Ohio. The results are sorted by state and funding source within the state. Since the goal of the pilot was not to compare these states, but instead to test and refine the NCI-AD Consumer Survey, the three states are not identified in the report; they are simply referred to as State 1, State 2, and State 3.

Wyoming's first Adult Protective Services report aims to determine the impact of financial abuse of vulnerable adults on state systems.

This GAO report examines 1) the extent to which states have Supplemental Security Income/Disability Insurance (SSI/DI) advocacy contracts with private organizations; 2) how SSI/DI advocacy practices compare across selected sites; and 3) the key controls the Social Security Administration has to ensure these organizations follow SSI/DI program rules and regulations. The GAO identified 16 states with some type of SSI/DI advocacy contract in 2014.

Community-based organizations will be notably impacted by States' implementation of MLTSS programs. Case studies on ombudsman programs and care/service coordination–culled from the MLTSS intensive at the 2013 HCBS Conference–complement the issue brief on CBO readiness. The ombudsman case studies highlight activities in Wisconsin, Hawaii, & Minnesota, while the care/service coordination case studies discuss CBO experiences in Massachusetts & Ohio. Both studies feature successful CBO practices.

This study focuses on understanding the rates and patterns of enrollment in Medicaid among individuals already enrolled in Medicare, the factors that predict this transition to dual coverage, and those that predict nursing home entry. This volume of this report is a descriptive examination of the number and characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries who transition to dual coverage in the coming year.

This report describes the different strategies that four states are utilizing to improve the integration and coordination of care for individuals with mental health and substance use disorders. These strategies include introducing new managed care arrangements and care coordination mechanisms, enhanced payment to providers to deliver comprehensive services, and the full integration of physical and behavioral health services in managed care contracts.