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AARP recently released the “National Inventory of Self‑Directed Long-Term Services and Supports Programs,” building upon the 2023 LTSS State Scorecard and previous inventories to provide an overview of all publicly funded self-directed Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) nationwide. This inventory includes estimates of numbers of participants, populations served, funding sources, and other key variables, and covers significant trends influencing the overall LTSS landscape, such as the well-documented national shortage of direct care workers. This marks the first report released since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, providing insight into the impact of the pandemic on self-direction programs...

On February 6, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) released a final rule to update regulations for implementing its Older Americans Act (OAA) programs. The first substantial update to most OAA program regulations since 1988, the rule aligns regulations to the current statute, addresses issues that have emerged since the last update and clarifies a number of requirements. It aims to better support the national aging network that delivers OAA services and improve program implementation, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that the nation's growing population of older adults can continue to receive the services and supports they need to live — and thrive — in their own homes and communities...

A new brief, “Fostering Financial Empowerment for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities,” published by the Office of Disability Employment Policy’s (ODEP) Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth (CAPE-Youth), provides policy considerations that help youth, young adults, and their families foster financial literacy. These strategies aim to alleviate financial pressures for young individuals as they navigate the transition to employment and adulthood. This brief provides policymakers with key considerations for initiating systemic change to improve financial literacy for youth and young adults with disabilities (Y&YADs)...

The Foundation for Social Connection has created a catalog of interventions with the primary goal of advancing social connection, which is now live on their website. The intervention catalog is for companies and non-profit organizations that provide specific interventions (e.g. products, services, and programs) to directly address social isolation, loneliness, and social disconnection. The primary outcome of the intervention should be to foster and build social connection or address social isolation and loneliness.

On January 31, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Calendar Year (CY) 2025 Advance Notice for the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Programs that would update payment policies for these programs. The Advance Notice proposes annual updates to MA payment growth rates and changes to the MA and Part D payment methodologies to improve payment accuracy. For calendar year 2025, CMS proposes an MA payment increase of 3.7 percent, or over $16 billion; however, the agency also proposes a 3.9% risk coding adjustment. The CY 2025 Advance Notice also includes the continued phase-in of the updated MA risk adjustment model and updates to the calculation of growth rates related to medical education...

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently launched the Value-Based Care Spotlight, a new website that aims to enhance understanding of value-based care (VBC) as a cornerstone of transforming health care with helpful information for both the public and health care providers. In value-based care, doctors and other health care providers work together to manage a person's overall health, while considering an individual's personal health goals. Value-Based Care Spotlight features Patient & Provider Voices, real-world stories that show the meaningful impact of VBC, as well as descriptions of key concepts, such as person-centered care and Accountable Care.

On January 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced increased participation in CMS’ accountable care organization (ACO) initiatives in 2024. ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care professionals that work together to provide high-quality, coordinated service and health care, improve health outcomes, and manage costs. CMS announced that 19 newly formed ACOs in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program) are participating in a new, permanent payment option beginning in 2024 that is enabling these ACOs to receive more than $20 million in advance investment payments (AIPs) to care for people who are medically underserved. An additional 50 ACOs are new to the program in 2024...

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final national snapshot for the 2024 Marketplace Open Enrollment (OEP), reporting that 21.3 million consumers have signed up for 2024 individual market health insurance coverage through the Marketplaces since the start of the 2024 OEP on November 1. This includes 16.4 million Marketplace plan selections in the 32 states using the HealthCare.gov platform for the 2024 plan year through the end of the OEP on January 16, 2024 (Week 11+), and 4.9 million plan selections in the 18 states and the District of Columbia with State-based Marketplaces (SBMs) that are using their own eligibility and enrollment platforms, through January 13, 2024 (Week 11) or the end of their OEP...

On January 22, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that, together with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), it will launch a series of actions to educate the public about their rights to emergency medical care and to help support efforts of hospitals to meet their obligations under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). This comprehensive plan was developed in response to a growing number of inquiries from patients and providers to CMS about how they can ensure that federal obligations were being met...

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released an article providing an overview of the laws that federal agencies must comply with to provide people with disabilities access to accommodations to ensure they are able to participate fully in the workplace. The article focuses on accommodations that improve access to job facilities, physical spaces, and information technology. These include accommodations like automated doors, handrails and stair treads, accessible parking spaces, and adaptive computer hardware and software, providing ASL interpreters, and providing written materials in large print or Braille...