Alaska Long Term Care Study Released

Message from the Dept. of Health and Social Services:

"This study provides an analysis of existing long term care services in Alaska in 2006, a comparison of those services to long term care systems in selected other states, and recommendations for improving Alaska's long term care delivery system. Accompanying the recommendations is a cost comparison of Alaska's system with and without the recommended changes, as well as a transition plan for implementing changes.

The Department and The Trust recognize the need for carefully planned long term care services as our state's population increases and ages. This report must be viewed in the context of an increasingly complex and changing health care environment, both in Alaska and nation wide. Alaska is planning for the future needs of the state through this study and other similar efforts such as the Medicaid 20 year cost projection study completed by the Lewin Group in 2006. The upcoming legislative Medicaid review due for completion in the fall of 2006 will also provide more helpful information. Additionally, the Trust and the Department are engaging the Bristol Observatory to begin data collection to conduct prevalence surveying for targeted groups of beneficiaries.

For many Trust beneficiaries, the programs outlined or suggested in the PCG study exemplify the reason the Trust was created: to provide quality community based services that reduce the need for institutionalized services. Some recommendations from the Long Term Care study affirm activities the Department already routinely performs, such as the continued use of the Eden Model in the Pioneer Homes, (p. 39) and support of improving the coordination and quality of the four waiver program in existence.

In other cases, the recommendations reinforce goals that the Department and the Trust are already working toward, e.g., developing a strategy for workforce recruitment and retention in the long term care service delivery system (p. 32). Others have been or are in the process of implementation, such as coordinating administration and delivery of Personal Care Services and OA/APD waiver services (p. 50) and developing a strategy for renewal of
the home and community-based waivers (p.50).

The Department and the Trust agree that now is a critical time in the development of an effective and efficient long term care system. The evolution of fiscal and policy issues at the federal, state and local level will all impact what is needed and what is achievable. In order to develop a comprehensive review of these factors, the Department and the Trust have agreed to convene a work group on beneficiary services to gather and update information from the field, identify issues that need to be addressed and recommend policy options for implementation to ensure that the needs of Trust beneficiaries and other Alaskans who require long term supportive care services are appropriately met."
A COPY OF THE FULL REPORT IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT: http://hss.state.ak.us/commissioner/PDF/AlaskaLongTermCareCostStudy.pdf