Reports

Four new papers look at the Money Follows the Person demonstration program, drawing on a 2012 survey of state MFP programs. A total of 46 states have received federal grant money under the program, which was extended through 2016 by the Affordable Care Act. As of August 2012, over 25,000 individuals nationally had been transitioned back to the community since the program’s inception. The survey report describes trends in enrollment, services and per-capita spending in state MFP efforts.

Injuries are the third leading cause of death nationally, and the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 1 and 44. This report concludes that millions of injuries could be prevented each year if more states adopted additional research-based injury prevention policies, and if programs were fully implemented and enforced.

As 2014 approaches, many states are preparing for implementation of the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) law, including a new streamlined Medicaid enrollment system and, at states' option, the expansion of Medicaid. It has been found that nearly all states are pressing forward with information technology and process improvements to develop faster, streamlined Medicaid enrollment systems, whether or not the state elects to expand Medicaid coverage under the law.

This report identifies ways to effectively address nutrition problems using innovative intergenerational strategies. It lays out a set of recommendations that invite policymakers, business and community leaders, and advocates to: 1) directly engage older and younger community members in tackling the hunger and nutrition challenges, 2) view people of different generations as problem-solves and sources of supports for each other, 3) cultivate the leadership qualities in people of all ages.

This study examined (1) how intrastate funding formulas take into account older adults with greatest economic and social need, (2) options for modifying OAA title III and VII statutory funding formulas to better target older adults with the greatest economic and social need under generally accepted equity standards, and (3) what effect might these formula modifications have on states' program allotments and what transition measures could be used to ease the implementation of modifications.

This review is part of a new series of reports, “Closing the Quality Gap: Revisiting the State of the Science.” The series provides a critical analysis of existing literature on quality improvement strategies and issues for topics identified by the 2003 Institute of Medicine report, “Priority Areas for National Action: Transforming Health Care Quality.” To continuously assess progress toward quality, AHRQ identified people with disabilities as a priority population in this report.

The Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) body of work examining Medicaid personal care services (PCS) has found significant and persistent compliance, payment, and fraud vulnerabilities that demonstrate the need for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to take a more active role with States to combat the issues. This document summarizes OIG’s PCS work and, on the basis of the analysis of this work in the aggregate, offers recommendations to improve the integrity of Medicaid PCS.

This report aims at comparing long-term care for older adults delivered through Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) with care provided in nursing homes (NHs) by evaluating 1) the characteristics of older adults served through HCBS and in NHs; 2) the impact of HCBS and NH care on outcome trajectories of older adults; and 3) the per person costs of HCBS and NH care, costs for other services such as acute care, and family burden.

This survey provides national, statewide, and area specific, within certain states (based on population), average daily rates for private and semi-private rooms in a nursing home, monthly base rates in assisted living communities, hourly rates for home health aide and homemaker services, and daily rates for adult day services as well as the range of rates in each area surveyed. Download the survey and key findings.

Elder financial exploitation is the illegal or improper use of an older adult’s funds or property. It has been described as an epidemic with society-wide repercussions. This report describes the challenges states face in preventing and responding to elder financial exploitation, as well as the actions some federal agencies have taken to help states address these challenges.