Research from University of Pittsburgh Has Provided New Data on Geriatrics and Gerontology (The Effect of Medicaid Managed Long-term Services And Support on Participant Quality of Life And Unmet Need): Aging Research – Geriatrics and Gerontology

2025 JAN 21 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in geriatrics and gerontology. According to news originating from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “In 2018 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania began a three year transition of Medicaid Aging and Disabled Waiver programs to Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS). The new program, Community HealthChoices, serves adults with disabilities who receive home and community based services (HCBS), live in a nursing facility, and people dually eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare who do not use long-term services and supports (“duals”).”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from University of Pittsburgh: “Three managed care organizations operate the program through state-wide contracts. The program was implemented statewide over a three year period in three regional phases, creating a unique natural experiment. In other analyses, we have demonstrated significant changes to care management and slowing in the rate of growth of HCBS spending. This is the first study of HCBS participants’ subjective experience. A total of 14,706 prospective telephone interviews were conducted with random samples of participants before the transition to CHC and 18 and 30 months post-transition. We found that psychological well-being was unchanged, but depressive symptoms decreased over time. There was no change in the consequences of unmet need (e.g., having a hot meal or a bath). In general, when compared duals, HCBS users report lower access to primary care and lower self-reported health status.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “After the implementation, duals users reported higher health status and HCBS users were more likely to report having a medical care coordinator. The transition to MLTSS brought substantial changes to the way Medicaid LTSS is financed and delivered in Pennsylvania. However, the experience of the average participant has been relatively stable.”

For more information on this research see: The Effect of Medicaid Managed Long-term Services And Support on Participant Quality of Life And Unmet Need. Innovation in Aging, 2024,8(Supplement_1). (Innovation in Aging - https://academic.oup.com/innovateage). The publisher for Innovation in Aging is Oxford University Press (OUP).

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igae098.3590.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Howard Degenholtz, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Additional authors for this research include Anny Treat, Keri Kastner, John Yauch.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)