Health & Health Care

Key Findings:

This ASPE issue brief lays out a proposed comprehensive analytic framework to fully evaluate the impact of the CMS Innovation Center’s efforts on the Medicare program and the broader health care system as a whole to test innovative payment and service delivery models that reduce program expenditures while preserving or enhancing the quality of care.

Direct care workers (DCWs) such as nursing assistants, home health aides, and personal care assistants play an essential role in the health and well-being of over 20 million Americans. Yet DCW wages are not enough to make jobs competitive with entry level positions in other industries with similar job requirements which exacerbates the challenges in recruitment and retention of these workers.

People living with dementia often have complex health and social support needs that can best be met by health care and community-based providers working together. This brief examines promising practices for bridging community-based organizations and health care systems in the providing comprehensive dementia care.

During the pandemic period, telehealth utilization increased among both urban and rural enrollees in Medicaid, with urban enrollees sustaining greater gains in telehealth utilization at the end of 2021. This Issue Brief is part of a series of ASPE Issue Briefs examining changes in Medicaid utilization of services delivered via telehealth by enrollee and provider characteristics.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center is in the process of developing the Medicare $2 Drug List (M2DL) Model. This would allow Part D plan sponsors to offer a standardized list of generic drugs for a copayment of $2 or less for a month’s supply that would not be subject to prior authorization, quantity limits, or other utilization management restrictions.

Individuals returning to the community from prisons and jails face numerous barriers to reentry, and securing safe, stable housing is often the most immediate challenge. Housing is a vital element of successful reentry.

This study examined the extent therapist practices and nursing homes adopted telehealth services for physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), and speech-language pathology (SLP); explored the major challenges and facilitators in adopting telerehabilitation services, and whether these services were effective in addressing patient care and staffing needs during the public health emergenc

The recent designation of the three-digit “988” dialing code is intended to improve public awareness of an immediate means to behavioral health crisis services, resulting in both a diversion of behavioral health calls from 911 as well as increased utilization of call services among people in crisis who are not currently getting help.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has recently developed guidelines for establishing a comprehensive crisis response system for behavioral health. Per these guidelines, a comprehensive system should provide individuals in crisis with “someone to call,” “someone to respond,” and “a place to go” to receive crisis response services.