MLTSS Association Report on Strengthening the Direct Care Workforce 

This report captures emerging promising practices for MLTSS MCOs and providers to optimize the direct care workforce, as well as policy solutions for states and the federal government to facilitate and scale these practices more broadly.  

Developed by the Long-Term Quality Alliance (LTQA), in partnership with the MLTSS Association, highlights promising practices for MLTSS plans to support family caregivers

In this chapter of their June 2024 report to Congress, MACPAC highlights the role of care coordination data in assisting state efforts to evaluate integrated care and to oversee and monitor D-SNPs. Building on prior work, the Commission makes recommendations to states and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, that are intended to support states by providing a starting point for optimizing and overseeing SMACs and to explain how integrated care may benefit beneficiaries residing in their states. 

As State Medicaid Agencies and managed care organizations continue to tackle the challenges with providing high-quality care coordination and home and community- based services to a growing diverse and complex LTSS population, leveraging aging and disability networks is more vital than ever before.  ACL Deputy Administrator Kelly Cronin will discuss trends in how area agencies on aging (AAAs), aging & disability resource centers (ADRCs), and centers for independent living (CILs) are strategically partnering with MLTSS plans and state regulators to address gaps in care, as well as the impact of recent updates in the Federal regulatory landscape intended to improve access, quality and value of HCBS for older adults and individuals with disabilities.  

The Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model is a new voluntary nationwide model test that aims to support people with dementia and their unpaid caregivers.  The GUIDE Model focuses on comprehensive, coordinated dementia care and aims to improve quality of life for people with dementia, reduce strain on their unpaid caregivers, and enable people with dementia to remain in their homes and communities. It will achieve these goals through Medicare payments for a comprehensive package of care coordination and care management, caregiver education and support, and respite services. GUIDE delivers on the Biden Administration’s April 2023 Executive Order 14095 on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers, and advances key goals of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease. Through the GUIDE Model, CMS is testing an alternative payment methodology for participants that deliver comprehensive, coordinated dementia care.  

Created by the Administration for Community Living in 2022, the Direct Care Workforce Strategies Center (Strategies Center) provides technical assistance to states and service providers and facilitates collaboration with stakeholders to improve the recruitment, retention, training, and professional development of members of the direct care workforce.