MA Ranked 11th in U.S. for Meeting Long-Term Care Needs, AARP Says More Needs to be Done
Thursday, June 15, 2017
“Massachusetts has made some progress to improve long-term services and supports for older adults and people with disabilities, as highlighted in this Scorecard. But, proposals in Washington, D.C. to drastically cut federal funding for the Massachusetts Medicaid program would threaten these advancements, likely resulting in our most vulnerable citizens losing the lifesaving supports that they count on,” said Mike Festa, AARP Massachusetts State Director.
This is according to a new state-by-state Scorecard from AARP with the support of the nation’s leading long-term care organizations, The Commonwealth Fund, and The SCAN Foundation.
The scorecard ranks Massachusetts in the following categories:
- Massachusetts ranks 47th in the nation for median annual nursing home private pay costs as a percentage of median household income age 65+.
- Massachusetts ranks 41st in median annual home care private pay costs as a percentage of median household income age 65+.
- Massachusetts ranks 43rd in the nation on “transitioning,” with only 5.7 percent of people with a 90+ day nursing home stay successfully transitioning back to the community.
- Massachusetts ranks 39th in the nation with 25.7 percent of home health patients with a hospital admission.
Areas of Concern
Areas of concern in Massachusetts include affordability, the quality of life and quality of care, and effective transition dimensions.
“The vast majority of older Commonwealth residents want to live independently, at home, as they age — most with the help of unpaid family caregivers. Even facing tight budgets, Massachusetts is making some progress to help our older residents achieve that goal. However, this Scorecard shows we have more to do, and we need to pick up the pace,” said Festa.
The study says if Massachusetts improved its performance to the level of the average of the top-five-performing states:
- 65,713 more place-based subsidized units and vouchers would be available to help low-income people with LTSS needs afford housing;
- 38,361 more people of all ages would receive Medicaid LTSS to help them with daily activities;
- 12,840 more home health and personal care aides would be available to provide care in the community;
- 2,760 more low-/moderate-income adults with disabilities would have Medicaid coverage;
- $646,300,000 more would go to home-and-community-based services instead of nursing homes.
Click here to see the full scorecard
Central Mass Hospitals’ Grades for Safety
Just 50% of the Central Massachusetts hospitals scored a grade of A. The state average in the Commonwealth is just over 60%.
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