Toolkit Promotes Competent Care of Dual Eligible Older Adults
With a new toolkit on competent care for low-income older adults, the Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA) has provided messaging, resources, and interventions to Community Catalyst advocates and others that can help promote workforce readiness and competency to states and managed care plans participating in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Financial Alignment Initiative that is aligning and integrating care for individuals dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. More information about the toolkit can be found here.
With a new toolkit on competent care for low-income older adults, the Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA) has provided Community Catalyst advocates and others with messaging, resources, and interventions that can help promote workforce readiness and competency to states and managed care plans participating in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Financial Alignment Initiative that is aligning and integrating care for individuals dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.
Since the announcement of the Financial Alignment Initiative in 2011, the Alliance has urged CMS, their Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, and the participating states to disseminate education and training guidance to managed care plans on how they can ensure that all providers caring for older adults have the knowledge and skills to do so. This is especially pressing given that nearly 60 percent of dually eligible beneficiaries are over 65 years old.
“Regardless of the payment model, an appropriately trained health care workforce must be available to meet the needs of all dually eligible beneficiaries,” said Michèle Saunders, DMD, MS, MPH, past-president of the Gerontological Society of America and co-convener of EWA.
The EWA Toolkit to Support Older Adults Who Are Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid is specifically for consumers, health care professionals and other stakeholders interested in advocating for strong integrated care plans for older adults. The guide provides advocates with resources – many garnered from EWA members’ extensive on-the-ground experience – that can be implemented by stakeholders to promote concrete workforce policy and practice recommendations for state officials, health plans, and provider networks.
“There’s a business case and moral argument for ensuring the workforce caring for older adults is competent to care for them,” said Alliance co-convener and American Geriatrics Society chief operating officer Nancy Lundebjerg. “States and managed care plans need to see the true value of their innovation and bring on a well-trained eldercare team.”
The Alliance is partnering with Community Catalyst’s Voices for Better Health advocates to help incorporate these tools into their advocacy work. Carol Regan, Senior Advisor with Community Catalyst's Voices for Better Health program reacted to the release of the EWA toolkit with excitement. "As consumer advocates, we're thrilled to have such a practical resource to point to when we're talking to policymakers, plans and providers about what good care for older adults really looks like. And at the grassroots level, EWA's new toolkit puts an invaluable resource in the hands of activists working to improve care for some of the most vulnerable older adults all over this country," Regan said.
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The Eldercare Workforce Alliance is comprised of 30 national organizations united in their commitment to address the eldercare workforce shortage in order to ensure that older adults receive quality care in the settings of their choice.
The positions of the Eldercare Workforce Alliance reflect a consensus of 75 percent or more of its members. These statements reflect the consensus of the Alliance and do not necessarily represent the position of individual Alliance member organizations.
More information about the toolkit can be found here.