Long-Term Care Services and MLTSS Programs Offer States Better Care & Reduced Costs

Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2017 4:13 PM

According to a new survey, managed long-term services and support programs (MLTSS) bring a host of benefits to states, including better care outcomes and reduced spending, and could shift more patients away from institutions to in-home or community programs.

The National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities’ (NASUAD) MLTSS Institute sent surveys to all 19 states that operate the programs.

Twelve people responded to the surveys, providing the following feedback:
• Positive outlook of MLTSS programs’ impact on patients and states’ bottom lines
• 60% of participants in its MLTSS program reported improvement in their overall health, according to officials in Florida
• A Minnesota study found that participants in its Minnesota Senior Health Options program were 48% less likely to find themselves in the hospital than people with similar health profiles outside of the program
• Participants who were hospitalized recorded 26% fewer stays than non-participants

“Through the Kansas KanCare program, primary care physician visits increased by 80%, ‘costly hospital stays’ decreased by 29%, and emergency department use decreased by 7%,” the report states.

The survey results found that Florida reported savings of $284 million in 2014-2015 by taking patients from nursing facilities to community programs under its MLTSS program. In addition, this led to $432 million in savings between 2015-2016 and for the future, it will allow up to $200 million in savings.

The transition from institution to community is a top priority for many of the states with MLTSS programs.

“New Mexico views this shift as supporting the person-centered goals of its Centennial Care program and improving consumers’ qualify of life,” the report notes.

The following results were captured for these states:
• Florida intends to cap the nursing-home population of its MLTSS program at 35%, and has seen a 12% drop in the amount of Medicaid patients in nursing facilities
• Tennessee has seen the percentage of Medicaid consumers using community facilities rise from 17% to 44% since its TennCare CHOICES program was implemented
• New Jersey experienced a 1,000-resident decline in its nursing population since they implemented its MLTSS program in 2014

NASUAD recommends that states do the following:
• Collect baseline health data from program participants to provide a better reference point for long-term changes
• Governments need to include information-collection requirements in contracts with managed care organizations

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