State Medicaid Waiver Program Measurement Program Funded

LAWRENCE, KAN. — Researchers at The University of Kansas received funding from the National Institute of Disability Rehabilitation Research to create a method for state Medicaid programs to measure how well their Home and Community-Based Services funds keep people with disabilities healthy and at what cost.

HCBS also known as 1915(c) waivers allow people with disabilities to pay for needed home health and personal assistance to avoid institutional care.

“State policymakers can use the method’s findings to make appropriate changes in their HCBS program, especially the ones needed to keep people with disabilities healthy,” Reichard said. “Consumers and their advocates, too, can use the findings to ensure the quality, quantity, and contents of state HCBS services.”

Initially, Reichard and Martha Hodgesmith, a legal analyst, plan to analyze data from the Kansas Medicaid Program regarding individuals with physical disabilities who lived in a facility supported by Medicaid funding for at least 12 months before they moved into the community. This information will be compared to similar groups who did not live in an institution.

-30-

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. The Research and Training Center on Measurement and Interdependence in Community Living at the RTC/IL is part of the Life Span Institute.

Contact:

Amanda Reichard

reichard@ku.edu

April 22, 2007