Aging in America: A Profile of Older Adults
Published: | 6:16 pm | Posted in: Archive
The aging population is a heterogeneous group and varies by many social factors. This article illustrates the differences by providing a detailed look at the unique characteristics of older Americans. Knowing the key trends that will shape the following decades is a first step to helping older adults create optimal futures. Read our full paper here by Lisa Rill, […]
Combating Ageism: How Successful is Successful Aging?
Published: | 7:03 pm | Posted in: Archive
The concept of successful aging based on high level of physical cognitive functioning has become dominant in Gerontology since the 1990’s. This article indicates the concept may contribute to negative perception of aging (Ageism) and make older people feel as if they are personally responsible for failing to achieve the restrictive criteria for aging successfully. Purpose: To […]
Paid Caregiving in the 21st Century
Published: | 5:01 am | Posted in: Archive
The quality of availability and long term care services depend most fundamentally on paid caregivers who deserve far more recognition and support than they now receive. Al-Jen Poo is a MacArthur Genesis award winner, which she received for work in organizing home health workers and related efforts to improve the lives of these and other low-wage […]
The U.S. Health Care Crisis Five Years After Passage of the Affordable Care Act A Data Snapshot
Published: | 6:07 pm | Posted in: Health Care Policy and Reform, Medicare
Despite passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the U.S. health care crisis continues. While coverage has been expanded, the reform will leave 27 million people uninsured in 2024, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Much of the new coverage is of low actuarial value with high cost-sharing requirements, creating limitations to access. Choice […]
The Value of Medicaid
Published: | 7:58 pm | Posted in: Health Care Policy and Reform, Medicaid
Medicaid is the largest means-tested program in the U.S., with expenditures of over $425 billion in 2011. The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment, a recent expansion of the Medicaid program in that state that occurred by random assignment, has provided some of the most compelling evidence to date on the program’s effects. A series of previous […]
The Nursing Home Culture-Change Movement: Recent Past, Present, and Future Directions for Research
Published: | 7:33 pm | Posted in: Nursing Home Care
This article uses a retrospective approach to critique the research base underlying the nursing home culture-change movement—an effort to radically transform the nation’s nursing homes by delivering resident-directed care and empowering staff. The article traces the development of the movement from its inception 10 years ago to 2005, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid […]
The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Evidence from the First Year*
Published: | 7:31 pm | Posted in: Health Care Policy and Reform
In 2008, a group of uninsured low-income adults in Oregon was selected by lottery to be given the chance to apply for Medicaid. This lottery provides an opportunity to gauge the effects of expanding access to public health insurance on the health care use, financial strain, and health of low-income adults using a randomized controlled […]
Report: Older Adult Population Growth Surges in Certain States
Published: | 6:37 pm | Posted in: Medicare
The pressure that the aging of America places on the nation is not evenly distributed among all states, according to a new report on healthiest states from the United Health Foundation and American Public Health Association. By 2030, it’s projected that more than 20 percent of the population will be age 65 and older, up […]
Deductibles cause sick patients to reduce beneficial care
Published: | 4:06 pm | Posted in: Medicare
Measuring consumer responsiveness to medical care prices is a central issue in health economics and a key ingredient in the optimal design and regulation of health insurance markets. We study consumer responsiveness to medical care prices, leveraging a natural experiment that occurred at a large self-insured firm which forced all of its employees to switch […]
The Value of Medicaid to Older Households
Published: | 3:54 pm | Posted in: Medicaid
Medicaid is an importance source of funding for long-term care for the elderly. While Medicaid is the payer of last resort, contributing only after Medicare and private insurance pay their share and individuals spend their assets down to a relatively low “disregard” amount, the very high cost of nursing home care – on the order […]
The Aging Network and Managed Long-Term Care
Published: | 8:11 pm | Posted in: The Aging Network
Since the early 1980s, service providers and area agencies on aging, that is, the aging network, have developed a number of strengths as they built a community-based long-term-care system in most states. Many area agencies and providers now have the capacity to assess the needs of older persons, identify appropriate services, and administer cost-effective community […]
Differences In Life Expectancy Due To Race And Educational Differences Are Widening, And Many May Not Catch Up
Published: | 4:45 pm | Posted in: Welfare, Inequality, and Poverty
It has long been known that despite well-documented improvements in longevity for most Americans, alarming disparities persist among racial groups and between the well-educated and those with less education. In this article we update estimates of the impact of race and education on past and present life expectancy, examine trends in disparities from 1990 through 2008, and place observed disparities […]
Georgetown Report on Florida’s Long Term Care Medicaid Waiver
Published: | 2:12 pm | Posted in: MLTC
Florida’s 2011 Managed Care Legislation, HB 7107, established “Medicaid Managed Care,” a new statewide managed care program for all covered services. The program is expected to control Medicaid program costs by using a capitated rather than fee-for-service payment model. Two separate components are anticipated for the new program: the Florida Long-Term Care Managed Care program, slated […]
Medicare Advantage Members’ Expected Out-Of-Pocket Spending For Inpatient And Skilled Nursing Facility Services
Published: | 8:55 pm | Posted in: Medicare
Inpatient and skilled nursing facility (SNF) cost sharing in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans may reduce unnecessary use of these services. However, large out-of-pocket expenses potentially limit access to care and encourage beneficiaries at high risk of needing inpatient and postacute care to avoid or leave MA plans. In 2011 new federal regulations restricted inpatient and […]
Health Affairs Article: At Least Half of New Medicare Advantage Enrollees Had Switched From Traditional Medicare During 2006-11
Published: | 8:53 pm | Posted in: Medicare
In an article in Health Affairs, Gretchen A. Jacobson and Patricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation and independent consultant Anthony Damico examined whether the 2006-2011 growth in private Medicare Advantage plans was due primarily to new beneficiaries choosing Medicare Advantage from the onset of their eligibility, or because beneficiaries enrolled in traditional Medicare were making […]
Among The Elderly, Many Mental Illnesses Go Undiagnosed
Published: | 8:52 pm | Posted in: Mental Health
Few health care providers have the training to address depression, anxiety, and other conditions in their older patients. By now, warnings about the impact of an aging population on the nation’s health care system have become familiar: rising numbers of seniors with diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses; increased costs; and a strained geriatric […]
Lessons From Medicaid’s Divergent Paths On Mental Health And Addiction Services
Published: | 8:48 pm | Posted in: Mental Health
Over the past fifty years Medicaid has taken divergent paths in financing mental health and addiction treatment. In mental health, Medicaid became the dominant source of funding and had a profound impact on the organization and delivery of services. But it played a much more modest role in addiction treatment. This is poised to change, […]
High-Cost Patients Had Substantial Rates Of Leaving Medicare Advantage And Joining Traditional Medicare
Published: | 8:47 pm | Posted in: Medicare
Medicare Advantage payment regulations include risk-adjusted capitated reimbursement, which was implemented to discourage favorable risk selection and encourage the retention of members who incur high costs. However, the extent to which risk-adjusted capitation has succeeded is not clear, especially for members using high-cost services not previously considered in assessments of risk selection. We examined the […]
Integrated Payment And Delivery Models Offer Opportunities And Challenges For Residential Care Facilities
Published: | 8:46 pm | Posted in: Assisted Living
Under health care reform, new financing and delivery models are being piloted to integrate health and long-term care services for older adults. Programs using these models generally have not included residential care facilities. Instead, most of them have focused on long-term care recipients in the community or the nursing home. Our analyses indicate that individuals […]
The Disproportionate Impact Of Dementia On Family And Unpaid Caregiving To Older Adults
Published: | 8:45 pm | Posted in: Alzheimer's Disease: Cure & Care
The number of US adults ages sixty-five and older who are living with dementia is substantial and expected to grow, raising concerns about the demands that will be placed on family members and other unpaid caregivers. We used data from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study and its companion study, the National Study […]
