Shayne Nagel, proper, comforts her daughter, Erin, who has autism. Erin lived at a state-run residential heart for 2 years earlier than transferring right into a triplex locally with help from Washington state’s Cash Follows the Particular person program. (Bettina Hansen/The Seattle Occasions/TNS)
Following years in limbo, a preferred Medicaid program that helps individuals with disabilities transfer from establishments to community-based dwelling will turn into extra extensively accessible.
The Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Companies stated this week that the Cash Follows the Particular person program will increase to 3 new states and two U.S. territories.
The Medicaid program offers additional funds for employment, housing and different providers to assist individuals transition from nursing properties and different establishments to properties locally.
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Between 2008 and 2020, greater than 107,000 individuals have transitioned with assist from Cash Follows the Particular person, in keeping with a brand new report on this system that was launched by CMS this week.
CMS stated that it’s going to ship as much as $5 million every to Illinois, Kansas, New Hampshire, American Samoa and Puerto Rico. The brand new awards will assist assist early planning for Cash Follows the Particular person to be rolled out in these places, officers stated.
With the most recent announcement of awards totaling about $25 million, CMS stated there might be Cash Follows the Particular person applications in 41 states and territories. That is the primary time that territories are being included.
Lately, this system has confronted important challenges amid funding uncertainty. It formally expired in 2016 and as a substitute of renewing it, Congress authorised eight short-term extensions.
And not using a dedication from the federal authorities, many states stopped transitions into the neighborhood and closed their applications as they ran out of cash. That led to a nationwide decline within the variety of individuals transitioning out of establishments by means of Cash Follows the Particular person, from 10,396 individuals in 2017 to 4,173 in 2019 earlier than ticking again up barely in 2020, in keeping with the CMS report.
In the end, nevertheless, this system was renewed in late 2020 for 3 years and it’s now poised to develop once more.
“We’re placing the total weight of this company behind options that may meet individuals the place they’re and assist get them to the place they wish to be relating to well being care,” stated Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of CMS. “Cash Follows the Particular person has a confirmed monitor report of serving to seniors and folks with disabilities transition safely from institutional care to their very own properties and communities. Letting ‘cash comply with the particular person’ is essential to these successes, and to the Biden-Harris administration’s dedication to inexpensive, accessible, person-centered care.”
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