Reports

Money Follows the Person (MFP) federal grants are provided to states in order to assist older adults and people with disabilities in transitioning from nursing facilities to home and community based settings. A history and current state of MFP are offered. This report provides an overview of how MFP has helped states to rebalance their LTSS programs and provides next steps and an outlook for the future of MFP or similar programs once the demonstration project’s funding has run out.

A survey of state aging, disability and Medicaid agencies was conducted in 2012, in order to better understand challenges and concerns for funding and providing quality LTSS. Five common themes were identified in this report, including staff turnover and reductions during a sluggish recovery of state budgets. Other findings include an overall expansion of home and community-based services, LTSS transformation and reduced funding and high demand for non-Medicaid aging and disability services.

This report describes research conducted on the continuity of enrollment of Medicaid beneficiaries. Continuous enrollment in a health insurance plan promotes chronic disease management and is more cost-effective. The research found that Medicaid beneficiaries are on average enrolled in the program for just 9.7 months out of the year. This disruption in enrollment leads to higher monthly medical costs and interferes with efforts to measure quality of care delivered through Medicaid.

Curious about issues of family caregiving and the workplace? This report highlights three public policy solutions to extend protections for working caregivers and reduce worker turnover: unpaid family and medical leave, paid family and medical leave insurance, and earned sick time. It presents an overview of each policy area, explains why workplace leave policies matter, and highlights states and localities that have adopted these protections.

An updated fiscal outlook of state and local governments projects an ever increasing gap between receipts and expenditures through 2060, absent any policy changes. The report found that this decline in the state and local government sectors' operating balance is primarily due to rising health related costs of state and local expenditures on Medicaid and the cost of health care compensation for state and local government employees and retirees.

This report examines the importance of Medicaid as a safety net for financing long-term services and supports (LTSS). Most older adults will require some form of LTSS, but paid LTSS can be very expensive. Unpaid, family caregiving has enormous economic value and currently accounts for the greatest portion of LTSS provision. However, if an individual needs paid LTSS, and can't afford LTSS insurance, Medicaid is often needed after an individual spends down their assets.

With a focus on understanding the experiences and attitudes of this population as they begin to plan for their own care and interact with the long-term care system to provide care for loved ones, we examine their understanding of the long-term care system, their perceptions and misperceptions regarding the likelihood of needing long-term care services and of the cost of those services, and their attitudes and behaviors regarding planning for long-term care.

This report provides insight into how transportation services for older adults and persons with disabilities are funded. With a growing population in need of transportation and limited funds for these services, providers need to creatively leverage existing and untapped funding sources to fill gaps in service. Coordination of these limited resources is also key and must be supported by providers and all levels of government. Learn major sources of federal funding that providers can tap into.

Using data from the National Household Travel Survey, the Small Urban and Rural Transit Center has released a report that examines the travel behavior and mobility of older adults, people with disabilities, individuals in low-income households, and people in rural areas. NHTS data on driving, mode choice, use of public transportation, and issues and concerns regarding transportation are highlighted.

This report looks at how employers are building competitive advantage through workplace practices that engage people with disabilities, including recent veterans and older workers. It finds that companies that employ people with disabilities reap numerous benefits. For instance, active recruiting and retention of employees with disabilities can both significantly expand the pool of talent and create new business opportunities.