Money Follows the Person: Change in Participant Experience During the First Year of Community Living



A recently released report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Mathematica Policy Research presents the quality-of-life experiences of 803 Money Follows the Person Demonstration participants who transitioned to community living between January 2008 and December 2009.

The Money Follows the Person Demonstration provides state Medicaid programs the opportunity to help transition into the community Medicaid beneficiaries living in long-term care institutions.

After one year of community living, participants reported significantly higher quality of life compared with life in institutional settings, as measured through a variety of questions. These include questions designed to assess global satisfaction with life, satisfaction with care received, and satisfaction with where participants lived. Participants reported the largest improvement in satisfaction with their living arrangements. These findings are consistent across each target population.

Florida's Legislature recently turned down over $36 million in federal funding to continue this Bush-era Republican-based program.To view the complete report, go to:  http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/health/mfpfieldrpt6.pdf


The MFP demonstration, first authorized by Congress as part of the 2005 DRA and then extended by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is designed to shift Medicaid’s long-term care spending from institutional care to HCBS. Congress has now authorized up to $4 billion in federal funds to support a twofold effort by state Medicaid programs to (1) transition people living in nursing homes and other long-term care institutions to homes, apartments, or group homes of four or fewer residents; and (2) change state policies so that Medicaid funds for long-term care services and supports can “follow the person” to the setting of his or her choice. MFP is administered by CMS, which initially awarded MFP grants to 30 states and the District of
Columbia (although one state has yet to implement its program). The first states launched their MFP transition programs in late 2007, and Congress has authorized the demonstration through 2016. CMS contracted with Mathematica Policy Research to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the MFP demonstration and report the outcomes to Congress.

0 comments:

Post a Comment