Friday, June 20, 2014
Huge Gap Found Among States In Long-Term Services Quality and Access
The quality and accessibility of long-term supports and services depends in large part on where you live, according to a new report by AARP, The Commonwealth Fund, and the SCAN Foundation.
Eight states—Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Alaska, Hawaii, Vermont, and Wisconsin—provide the best care by nearly all of AARP’s measures. Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Indiana provide the worst, pretty much across each of the five main indicators in the survey.
The study looks at nearly two dozen measures—from access to Medicaid’s home-based care programs to private long-term care insurance coverage to the quality and cost of nursing homes and home care. It divides those measures into five main categories—affordability and access of care, choice of setting and provider, quality of life and quality of care, support for family caregivers, and effective transitions in and out of nursing homes…