Reports

This report details development of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)’s Quality Indicators (QI) for the HCBS population. It includes key sections: 1) the introduction section providing background on the HCBS QI development project. 2) the methods section on an overview of the QI development process, 3) results of details of empirical analyses performed to support QI, 4) the concluding thoughts section providing a discussion of interpretation of the indicators.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was assigned to develop outcome indicators to assess the "health and welfare" of recipients of Medicaid HCBS. AHRQ also was required to use the outcome indicators to describe the health and welfare of this population. The outcome indicators are presented by individual attributes and area characteristics. The health of the HCBS population is also described within the context of State policies and service availability.

The purpose of this literature review is to better understand the various pathways to Medicare-Medicaid eligibility, how and why and individual becomes eligible for both programs. Also, this report presents examples of federal government- and state-sponsored programs and supports aimed at delaying or preventing a descent into functional decline and/or poverty. The ways to simplify the enrollment process for those who quality and need Medicare and Medicaid benefits are discussed as well.

This paper discusses the progress states have made in moving away from institutional care for Long-Term Supports and Services and toward home and community-based programs. It analyzes the opportunities available through the Affordable Care Act and other programs whereby states can continue that progress even in a challenging budget environment.

This study focuses on new Medicare-Medicaid enrollees in Maryland and the circumstances that shaped their initial eligibility for both programs. This report details the demographic and programmatic characteristics of new enrollees. Specifically, it serves as the vehicle for establishing an initial operational definition of new enrollees and developing the terminology needed to describe the circumstances surrounding initial Medicare-Medicaid eligibility.

This report describes and analyzes chronic disease patterns and health care expenditures of persons in Maryland who in 2008 began to receive coverage from both Medicare and Medicaid. The analysis focuses on disease and expenditure patterns in the year before these individuals, most of whom had been enrolled in Medicare alone or Medicaid alone, became enrollees in both programs. The results can provide a better understanding of simultaneous enrollment in Medicare and Medicaid.

This report evaluates the experience with the New Jersey Care Partner Support Pilot Program (Pilot) that was conducted in four counties in New Jersey in 2011. The Pilot aims at improving the knowledge and skills of family caregivers caring for adult family members and friends participating in New Jersey’s Medicaid Global Options home and community-based services waiver (GO Waiver) and the state-only funded Jersey Assistance to Community Caregivers (JACC) program.

Agency with Choice (AwC) is a model of Financial Management Services (FMS) in which an agency and a participant are joint employers of workers who provide service to the participant. This paper presents the benefits, challenges, and risks of AwC FMS and puts forth the National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services (NRCPDS)’s list of key components for AwC FMS to be considered participant-directed, providing a model for consistency in future implementation of AwC FMS.

The ULI published an article on the opportunities and challenges that the baby boomers has created for the U.S. housing industry. The challenge is to meet the diverse lifestyle needs of people in their senior years. Those who are moving desire urban locations where they can be close to many services such as restaurants, health care, and public transportation. The commonality across all aging baby boomers, however, is that they have an aversion to current and future institutional living.

This survey reports on trends in Medicaid spending, enrollment and policy initiatives for FY 2012 and FY 2013. The report describes policy changes in reimbursement, eligibility, benefits, delivery systems and long-term care, as well as detailed appendices with state-by-state information, and a more in-depth look through four state-specific case studies of the Medicaid budget and policy decisions in Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon and Texas.