Rates of nursing home closures were relatively stable over the past decade, but warrant continuous monitoring.

For years, nursing home closures have been a concern for the industry, policymakers, consumer advocates, and other stakeholders. We analyzed data from 2011 through 2021 and did not find persistent increases in the closure rates. Closures were relatively stable from 2011 to 2017, averaging 118 facilities (0.

Impacts of the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Demonstration on Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalizations.

Objective: The Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) demonstration is designed to increase access to comprehensive ambulatory care and crisis services, which may reduce emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. This study examined whether the demonstration had an impact on ED visits and hospitalizations in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

Methods: This difference-in-differences analysis used Medicaid claims data from 2015 to 2019 to examine service use during a 12-month baseline period and the first 24 months of the demonstration for beneficiaries who received care from CCBHCs and beneficiaries who received care from other behavioral health clinics in the same state, representing care as usual.

Dementia's Unique Burden: Function and Health Care in the Last 4 Years of Life.

Background: Dementia is a terminal illness marked by progressive cognitive decline. This study characterized trajectories of functional status and health care use for people with and without dementia at the end of their life.

Methods: We used the Health and Retirement Study linked with Medicare claims to generate a series of generalized linear models.

Residential treatment and medication treatment for opioid use disorder: The role of state Medicaid innovations in advancing the field.

Background: Mortality due to opioid use continues to increase; effective strategies to improve access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) are needed. While OUD medications exist, they are used infrequently and often not available in residential addiction treatment settings. CMS provides expanded opportunities for Medicaid reimbursement of treatment in residential facilities and requires states that request Medicaid SUD Waivers to provide a full continuum of care including medication treatment.

Emergency department interventions for opioid use disorder: A synthesis of emerging models.

Introduction: Opioid overdose deaths are increasing, and improving access to evidence-based treatment is necessary. Emergency department (ED) initiation of treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) via medications and referral to treatment is one approach that leverages a critical health care entry point for individuals with OUD. Efforts to engage patients in treatment through the ED are growing, but systematic analysis of program features as implemented and challenges across different models remains limited.

Effects of Medicaid expansion on insurance coverage and health services use among adults with disabilities newly eligible for Medicaid.

Objective: To estimate the effects of Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion on insurance and health services use for adults with disabilities who were newly eligible for Medicaid.

Data Sources: 2008-2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data.

Study Design: We used the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) PUBSIM model to identify adults aged 26-64 years with disabilities who were newly Medicaid-eligible in expansion states or would have been eligible in non-expansion states had those states opted to expand.

Emergency department-based efforts to offer medication treatment for opioid use disorder: What can we learn from current approaches?

Background: The opioid epidemic remains a public health crisis and most people with opioid use disorder (OUD) do not receive effective treatment. The emergency department (ED) can be a critical entry point for treatment. EDs are developing and implementing ED-based efforts to address OUD to improve access to OUD treatment.

Home Health Use In Medicare Advantage Compared To Use In Traditional Medicare.

Medicare covers home health benefits for homebound beneficiaries who need intermittent skilled care. While home health care can help prevent costlier institutional care, some studies have suggested that traditional Medicare beneficiaries may overuse home health care. This study compared home health use in Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare, as well as within Medicare Advantage by beneficiary cost sharing, prior authorization requirement, and plan type.

Home Health And Postacute Care Use In Medicare Advantage And Traditional Medicare.

This article compares patterns of postacute care-including care provided by skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and home health agencies-under Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare. Overall, Medicare Advantage enrollees received less postacute care, both institutional and home health, than traditional Medicare enrollees did for three common conditions.

Increasing Access to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment: Assessing State Policies and the Evidence Behind Them.

Objective: Combatting the opioid epidemic requires systemic policy changes that address the underutilization of medication-assisted treatment, a therapy that is effective in treating opioid use disorder. In this study, we present approaches used in five states to increase medication-assisted treatment financing and access.

Method: We conducted case studies in five U.