A program meant to transition nursing home residents out of institutional care and into their own communities is not meeting projected transfer rates, a national analysis finds.
The Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration Project, which debuted through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in 2007, has seen mixed results across the states. MFP gives states funding to transfer Medicaid recipients into their previous homes, group homes, assisted living communities and other community-based settings.
CMS had expected to facilitate the relocation of 35,380 Medicaid recipients who wanted to leave their long-term care settings. But an analysis conducted by Kaiser Health News and funded with support from the SCAN Foundation found that only 22,500 beneficiaries have made the move. A 2011 Mathematica Policy evaluation discovered many participants transfer back to a nursing facility after moving out.
CMS says there is progress, and the Affordable Care Act extended the MFP to Sept. 30, 2016 with an additional $2.25 billion.
From the July 01, 2012 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
