“States’ use of LTSS varies widely for dual-eligible adults with dementia”

“States’ use of LTSS varies widely for dual-eligible adults with dementia,” by Alicia Lasek, McKnight’s LTC News

Quote:

“Some state differences were stark. The use of any form of LTSS for dual-eligible beneficiaries with dementia ranged from 61% in Maine to 96% in Montana. Home-based service use ranged from 9% in Maine, Arizona and South Dakota, to 62% in Oregon, for example. And although nursing facilities topped the LTSS list of service type in most states, home-based services had greater utilization in not only Oregon, but in Alaska and California as well, the researchers found. Many states have sought to expand home- and community-based services in an attempt to honor older adults’ preferences and control costs. But until now, LTSS Medicaid services at a national level have not been studied extensively, especially among dually eligible recipients with dementia, the authors noted. … Full findings were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.”

 

LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:

The myth that home and community-based services save money lives on with little evidence to prove or disprove it. Yet here’s proof nursing homes still prevail in most states. Would that be true if HCBS were cheaper?