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Medicaid News
CMS Gives 13 States Money for Medicaid Programs to
Keep Elderly at Home
Second funding for nursing home alternatives
reaches $1.75 billion
 May 15, 2007 - Thirteen states and the District of
Columbia will get more than $547 million in grants over five years to
build Medicaid long-term care programs that will help keep people at
home and out of institutions, Leslie V. Norwalk, Acting Administrator of
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced yesterday.
Today’s awards are the second round of grants that
will total $1.75 billion over five years (2007-2011) to help shift
Medicaid’s traditional emphasis on institutional care to a system
offering greater choices that include home and community-based
services.
This “Money Follows the Person” initiative was
included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), currently being
implemented by CMS. It is a component of the administration’s New
Freedom Initiative, a nationwide effort to remove barriers to community
living for people of all ages with disabilities or chronic illnesses.
“There is more evidence than ever that people who
need long-term care prefer to remain in their own homes and communities
whenever possible,” said Ms. Norwalk. “This new program will help
states shift Medicaid’s traditional emphasis on institutional care to a
system offering greater choices that include home-based services.
“States will also benefit by giving the elderly and
people with disabilities more control over how and where they receive
the Medicaid services they need.”
States expect to be able to move more than 14,000
people into community settings using these grant awards.
The Medicaid program traditionally pays for care
for elderly and disabled individuals living in institutions who need
help with activities of daily living. To fund home and community-based
services, states must obtain waivers of normal program rules designed to
pay for care in institutions.
“The concept of money following the person to the
most appropriate setting improves beneficiary satisfaction while
reducing Medicaid costs,” Ms. Norwalk said. “We intend to keep taking
steps to remove barriers and rebalance the options for Medicaid-funded
long-term care.”
States receiving grants today (see list below) will
design programs with four major objectives:
● Eliminate barriers or mechanisms that prevent
Medicaid-eligible individuals from receiving support for appropriate and
necessary long-term services in the settings of their choice;
● Increase the ability of the state Medicaid
program to assure continued provision of home and community based
long-term care services to eligible individuals who choose to move from
an institutional to a community setting; and
● Ensure that procedures are in place to provide
quality assurance for individuals receiving Medicaid home and
● community-based long-term care services and to provide for
continuous quality improvement in such services.
All states were eligible to participate in the
five-year demonstration program and had to commit to provide
demonstration services for at least two years.
States receiving grant funds will qualify for a
higher percentage of federal matching dollars to help cover the costs of
moving people out of nursing homes and into community settings. The
higher matching rate will be paid for one year after an individual moves
out of an institution and into the community. The state must continue
to provide community services after that period as long as the person
needs community services and is Medicaid eligible.
“These demonstration grants are a clear sign of our
continued commitment to expand choice to all Medicaid beneficiaries as
well as allowing them the independence to live at home and contribute to
their communities,” said Ms. Norwalk.
For more details about the New Freedom Initiative,
of which this demonstration is part, visit the CMS web site at:
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/newfreedom/.
2007 Money Follows
the Person Rebalancing Demonstration Awards
|
State |
Transitions |
Year
One Award Amount |
Five
Year Commitment |
|
Delaware |
100 |
$132,537 |
$5,372,007 |
|
District of Columbia |
1110 |
$2,546,569 |
$26,377,620 |
|
Georgia |
1,347 |
$480,193 |
$34,091,671 |
|
Hawaii |
415 |
$231,250 |
$10,263,736 |
|
Illinois |
3,357 |
$6,879,166 |
$55,703,078 |
|
Kansas |
934 |
$102,483 |
$36,787,453 |
|
Kentucky |
431 |
$4,973,118 |
$49,831,580 |
|
Louisiana |
760 |
$524,000 |
$30,963,664 |
|
New
Jersey |
590 |
$230,000 |
$30,300,000 |
|
North
Carolina |
552 |
$16,055 |
$16,897,391 |
|
North
Dakota |
110 |
$18,089 |
$8,945,209 |
|
Oregon |
780 |
$80,785 |
$114,727,864 |
|
Pennsylvania |
2600 |
$130,609 |
$98,196,439 |
|
Virginia |
1041 |
$13,793 |
$28,626,136 |
|
Totals |
14127 |
$16,358,647 |
$547,083,848 |
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