2012
Across the States 2012: Profiles of Long-Term Services and Supports
OCT 12, 2012 | AARP Public Policy Institute | IN-BRIEF | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | CA | FULL REPORT (370 pgs)
From the AARP Public Policy Institute, Across the States 2012: Profiles of Long-Term Services and Supports presents comparable state-level and national data for more than 140 indicators, drawn together from a wide variety of sources into a single reference. The full report provides a comprehensive picture of long-term services and supports in each state.
Moving “Dual Eligibles” Into Mandatory Managed Care and Capping Their Federal Funding Would Risk Significant Harm to Poor Seniors and People With Disabilities
OCT 10, 2012 | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | REPORT
As policymakers seek to reduce federal budget deficits, they may face proposals to reduce spending on low-income Medicare beneficiaries who also are eligible for Medicaid (the “dual eligibles”) by 1) requiring them to receive both their Medicare- and Medicaid-covered services through a single managed care plan that would operate under a contract with their state, and 2) imposing a cap on the funding their state would receive for that purpose. Such proposals would be ill-advised at this time.
Experts agree that we should try to find ways to better coordinate care for these beneficiaries that would improve quality of care while producing savings. But, as the report Moving "Dual Eligibiles" Into Mandatory Managed Care and Capping Their Federal Funding Would Risk Significant Harm to Poor Seniors and People with Disabilities shows, we do not yet know how to do this.
Loneliness in older persons: a predictor of functional decline and death.
JUL 23, 2012 | PubMed.gov | US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health | ABSTRACT | Perissinotto CM, Stijacic Cenzer I, Covinsky KE
BACKGROUND:
Loneliness is a common source of distress, suffering, and impaired quality of life in older persons. We examined the relationship between loneliness, functional decline, and death in adults older than 60 years in the United States.
RESULTS:
Among participants who were older than 60 years, loneliness was a predictor of functional decline and death.
Medicaid Rate-Setting Strategies to Promote Home- and Community-Based Services
MAY 2012 | Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) | POLICY BRIEF
In creating managed long-term services and supports approaches that foster home- and community-based services, states need to explore rate-setting strategies that reward health plans for promoting the use of such services. The brief, Medicaid Rate-Setting Strategies to Promote Home- and Community-Based Services, discusses strategies for structuring rates for managed long-term services and supports programs to encourage the use of home- and community-based services and details state experiences in setting rates for these programs.
A Tough Time for Physicians: 2012 Medical Practice & Attitude Report
MAY 24, 2012 | Jackson Healthcare | REPORT
In A Tough Time for Physicians: 2012 Medical Practice & Attitude Report, Jackson's findings from a series of surveys conducted between May and June 2012 are summarized. Topics surveyed and included in this report:
Current practice environment (p 5)
Current retirement plans (p 7)
Current access for Medicaid and Medicare patients (p 10)
Current use of physician assistants and nurse practitioners (p 13)
Current participation in Accountable Care Organizations or Medical Homes (p 15)
Current attitudes on the Affordable Care Act (p 17)
The 2012-13 Budget: Integrating Care for Seniors and Persons With Disabilities
FEB 17, 2012 | Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) | REPORT
In a February 17, 2012 LAO report, The 2012-13 Budget: Integrating Care for Seniors and Persons With Disabilities, the Legislative Analyst found that it is premature to expand the Care Coordination Initiative demonstration statewide and make LTSS managed care benefits, since the demonstration has not yet been implemented—much less evaluated—and many key implementation details remain to be determined. The report recommends the Legislature reject the Governor’s proposal to expand the demonstration statewide before the results from the demonstration have been properly evaluated, but proceed instead with the four-county demonstration. Additional recommendations are made with the intent to help the state move toward a more integrated system of care delivery for SPDs.
