MACPAC Considers Long-Term Services and Supports Financing
Legislation | April 10, 2016
On Friday, April 1st the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) held a session on long-term services and supports (LTSS) financing.
Representatives of the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Long-Term Care Financing Collaborative presented their general findings and those recommendations that related to Medicaid. LeadingAge was recognized for its role as both a funder of the seminal research that underpinned the reports and a thought leader as a producer of our own report on LTSS financing. Commissioners displayed interest in the research and the reports and asked for future work to consider how a universal, catastrophic program would interact with Medicaid, Medicare, and health plans. Several commissioners urged the presenters to dig into the tough issues around programmatic design, which is the direction of our ongoing work at LeadingAge.
The subsequent session on Friday is also noteworthy for LTSS providers that focused on a draft chapter related to functional assessments in LTSS. In the presentation delivered, MACPAC staff reviewed their research on the current state of functional assessments, perspectives on the possibility of a national tool, and concludes with recognition of the need for continued monitoring of the topic without recommending a particular approach. Commissioners urged consideration of the dual nature of assessments and whether the same tool and assessor ought to be used for both programmatic eligibility and care planning for those individuals found eligible. Questions were also posed around whether the provider of services ought to be the entity conducting the assessment.