Reports

Medicaid finances nearly half of all LTSS spending. Review an update to existing data on Medicaid financial eligibility standards for nursing home and HCBS waiver services for older persons and adults with disability. 2009 data were obtained on state selection of optional pathways for eligibility, income and asset standards, cost-sharing and other post-eligibility financial requirements. A copy of the survey instrument and accompanying letter to state Medicaid Directors are included.

Disability rates among older Americans have declined, and the ways in which community-dwelling older people with disabilities managed their conditions have substantially changed over the 20 years covered by this survey. Among those receiving human assistance, the vast majority were helped by family caregivers, who are increasingly taking full responsibility for providing care. Find detailed analyses of the data in two research reports that provide insight into the factors driving these changes.

State-authorized health plans whose members are qualified to receive both Medicare and Medicaid benefits face administrative challenges. This study examines care management practices in four health plans that serve persons who are dually eligible. The authors describe how health plans operationalize their integrated care management approaches and identify a common framework for integrating care.

The unemployment rate of persons with a disability was well above the rate of those with no disability. Nearly one-third of workers with a disability were employed part time, compared with about one-fifth of those with no disability. Review the findings of this report, as well as a related journal article.

Review the results of a survey that measures the current attitudes of corporate employers toward employees with disabilities and corporate action on hiring people with disabilities. Findings are presented on current corporate disability policies and programs, steps employers have been taking towards recruiting, training, and retaining people with disabilities, as well as the barriers they experience, and more.

This report offers a cross-site analysis of the goals, objectives, outputs, outcomes, challenges and barriers of nine FY05 FTF grants. It discusses implementation of the grants, summarizes outputs reported by grantees, and concludes with a discussion of barriers and grantee recommendations for supporting FTF efforts at the state and federal level. Basic information about each grant is included, i.e. title, grantee agency, subcontractors, activities, impacts, outcomes, and accomplishments.

Findings in this report focus on what has been learned about the status of grant implementation and factors that facilitate progress early and throughout the implementation period, and progress on grantees’ goals and achievement of Systems Transformation (ST). It presents results for both FY05 and FY06 ST Grantees, builds on findings from the first annual report and focuses on two different stages of implementation for the FY05 grantees (Year 3) and the FY06 grantees(initial 15-months).

Review the results of a survey that assesses the quality of life of people with disabilities on a wide range of critical dimensions and tracks them over time. A number of indicators were used, and findings show that while there has been modest improvement in a few areas, there has yet to be significant progress. Employment remained as the largest gap between people with disabilities and those without. Attached are links to the final report, executive summary, presentation and webinar.

Statistics show a significant percentage increase in older persons able to receive LTSS outside of nursing homes, however unnecessary institutionalization is still a routine problem. This report clearly delineates the limitations on progress, including differences in Medicaid structure around nursing home vs. HCBS waiver coverage. The authors recommend specific steps that federal and state governments should take to reduce unnecessary institutionalization.

Many low-income individuals with severe mental illness leave state institutions without health insurance and therefore without financial access to the treatment they need to live successfully in their communities. Read an evaluation of Oklahoma’s efforts to develop and implement a model program to ensure that eligible individuals with mental illness were enrolled in Medicaid at discharge from state prisons and institutions for mental diseases.