Long Term Care

Top Five Health Issues Facing States in 2014

Monday, January 6, 2014 at 12:00 AM

Health care spending is 18 percent of the national economy so it is no wonder that big health issues face the states in 2014. The all-consuming question for states is how to contain costs. The Affordable Care Act kicks in full force in 2014 and states that haven't already decided to expand Medicaid eligibility may take up the question. The health marketplaces, while slow to start in October, were making more headway as 2014 began. Nearly 4 million (3.9) individuals had been deemed Medicaid or CHIP eligible and another 2.1 million selected private health insurance policies through the federal or state marketplaces by the end of December 2013. States will look at systems and delivery methods, including mental health, aging and professional scope of practice issues.

The Role of States in Supporting Family Caregivers

Audrey Wall

Monday, July 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Family caregivers are the backbone of our nation’s system of long-term services and supports for older adults and people with disabilities. The economic value of their contributions is estimated at $450 billion per year. It is critical that states support the efforts of these caregivers, to help them avoid burn out and protect their own health.

Long-Term Care and Supports: A Tool for Targeting State Improvement

Audrey Wall

Thursday, July 5, 2012 at 02:20 PM

A high-performing system of long-term care services and supports must address four critical dimensions: affordability/access; choice of setting/provider; quality of life and care; and support for family caregivers. A recent scorecard assessed the states on 25 indicators within these dimensions and found marked differences in performance. States can use these findings to target system improvements.

Book of the States 2012, Chapter 9: Selected State Policies and Programs

Audrey Wall

Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 12:00 AM

Chapter 9 of the 2012 Book of the States contains the following articles and tables:

Book of the States 2012

Chapter 9: Selected State Policies and Programs

Articles:

Elections, Greater Federal Grant Scrutiny and Ongoing Disasters Continue to Test Management System

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Alzheimer's Disease and Caregiving

Debra Miller

Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 01:53 PM

Three out of four people with Alzheimer's disease will end up in a nursing home unless better systems of community care and support are built in states. Even without robust systems, today, nearly 15 million caregivers provide care valued at $202 billion.

State Scorecard on Services and Supports for Older Persons and Adults with Disabilities Released

Debra Miller

Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 01:27 PM

The nation’s top advocacy group for older Americans, AARP, along with the Commonwealth Fund and the Scan Foundation released a state scorecard on long-term services and supports available for older adults, people with physical disabilities and their family caregivers.

The new report, Raising Expectations, looks at services in states across four dimensions, affordability and access, choice of setting and provider, quality of life and quality of care, and support of family caregivers, and ranks them in quartiles.

New federal incentives encourage states to shift long-term care spending away from institutions

Kathryn Tormey

Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 12:14 PM

The federal government has launched a new initiative designed to change how states deliver services in one of the most costly areas of Medicaid: long-term care.

Long-Term Care Patient Access to Pharmaceuticals

CSG Committee on Suggested State Legislation

Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 01:19 PM

This Act provides a mechanism to enable patients with the ability to acquire lower cost drugs through the Veterans‘ Administration to access those drugs if those patients reside in a different long-term care facility. This means permitting the pharmacy within the long-term care facility or which has a contract with the long-term care facility to receive the lower cost drugs directly from the Veterans‘ Administration Drug Benefit Program in the patient's name and repackage and re-label those drugs so they may be dispensed in unit doses to the patient.

Signs of success in Ohio's changes to long-term care

Tim Anderson

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 11:58 AM

Changes in state policy are helping Ohio rebalance its long-term-care system in a way that expands choices for consumers and results in cost savings.

State Initiatives in Patient-Centered Medical Homes

Wanda Fowler Ann Kelly

Monday, November 8, 2010 at 04:13 PM

The majority of state Medicaid programs are testing models of coordinated medical care to improve quality and reduce costs, particularly for patients with multiple chronic illnesses. Patient-centered medical homes are similar to managed care approaches and health maintenance organizations, but ask providers to focus on improving care rather than managing costs. Such medical homes focus on improving the relationship between doctors and patients, aim to put the patient at the center of the care system, and provide coordinated and integrated care over time and across care settings. Descriptions of eleven states’ pilot programs or authorizing legislation are included.

Long Term Care

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