Your Holiday Travel Reading List: New Disability, Medicaid Articles

Readers expecting to spend time in airports and train stations during their holiday travels might find the following articles an informative way to pass the time.

New Toolkit for Health Professionals to Discuss Sex Abuse with Men with I/DD: “The Arc’s National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability® and the Board Resource Center recognize that health care professionals are in a front line position to educate patients with disabilities about sexual violence and how to report it. The project is releasing new training videos and other valuable online resources to give doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals the practical tools they need to have simple, direct, and honest conversations about sexual violence with male patients who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.”

ACL Evaluation of HCBS Grants in AK, GA, ID, IN, MO, NH, VA, WI: “In the last two decades, the number of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) living in community settings and receiving home and community based services (HCBS) increased dramatically. While this led to better outcomes, including people with I/DD making more of their own choices and being a part of the community, there are great variations in the accessibility of quality HCBS across the country. To address these variations and the associated risks, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) awarded eight five-year Living Well – Model Approaches for Enhancing the Quality, Effectiveness and Monitoring of Home and Community Based Services (Living Well) grants to build and implement model approaches focused on two core components and eight key features to promote independence, integration, and inclusion in community life.”

Article on Facilitation Community Transitions for Dual Eligible Populations: “This case study describes how two health plans in California — the Health Plan of San Mateo (HPSM) and Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) — developed programs to successfully transition dually eligible members in need of LTSS from institutional to community settings. They both participate in CalMediconnect, California’s demonstration under the Financial Alignment Initiative (see Exhibit 1 for more information). HPSM developed its Community Care Settings Pilot in 2014 to support members living in an institution in transitioning back to the community and to help members at risk of needing institutional placement to remain in the community. After learning about the Community Care Settings Program through the PRIDE project, IEHP launched the IEHP Housing Initiative in 2018. Modeled in part after HPSM’s program, IEHP seeks to provide housing, LTSS, and other support services to members in institutional settings who wish to return to the community, as well as homeless members.”

Resource for Housing and Homeless Programs Considering Options for Billing for Medicaid Eligible Services: “This review of Medicaid models is designed to assist supportive housing providers and homeless service organizations consider strategies to enhance their services (and services funding) through partnerships or through securing new resources. Included are comprehensive overviews of three options: Becoming a Medicaid Billable Agency; Collaborating to Increase Services and Capacity; and Contracting with an Administrative Services Organization.” [ANCOR note: while this resource is not geared towards providers of disability supports, given the severity of the housing crisis for people with disabilities it is possible that this resource will be useful for providers to share with their broader networks.]

Article on Using Asset Maps to Assist People with Complex Care Needs in Resource-Constrained Communities: “This Playbook interview with Lauran Hardin, Senior Advisor of Partnerships and Technical Assistance for the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, explores the use of asset mapping to build stronger ecosystems of care, address the root causes of repeated hospital and emergency department utilization, and improve care delivery for individuals with complex health and social needs.”