Published in the Woonsocket Call on April 12, 2015

AARP Rhode Island releases a state-specific analysis, of the 2014 edition of “Raising Expectations: A State Scorecard on Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) for Older Adults, People with Physical Disabilities, and Family Caregivers” that just might give state officials cause for concern, a low rating on its long-term care delivery system, when compared to other states.

The 2011 Scorecard was the first multidimensional assessment of state performance of LTSS. Like this earlier version, the release of the 109 page 2014 report, referred to as the LTSS Scorecard, and its state-specific analysis (prepared by policy consultant Maureen Maigret), measuring how well the nation and each of the states is doing in providing long-term care services, does not bode well for the nation’s littlest state. It finds the Ocean State ranks 38th nationally on 26 performance indicators, with it achieving the lowest rank of all New England States.

“Our analysis provides a closer look at where Rhode Island is keeping pace and where we fall short,” said AARP State Director Kathleen Connell. “The report indicates that, as the state with the highest percentage of persons 85 and older, we face exceptional challenges. It is our hope that the General Assembly and state policymakers find the analysis to be a valuable tool,” she says.

Failing Grades

The 2014 LTTS Scorecard indicates that Rhode Island:

• Ranks 4th highest among states in nursing home residents per 1,000 persons age 65 and over

• Has a high percent of low-care nursing home residents and spends a far higher percent of its LTSS dollars than the national average on nursing home care as opposed to home and community-based services.

• Has some of the highest long-term care cost burdens in the country making private pay long-term services unaffordable for the vast majority of older households.
But, on a positive note, the state-specific analysis noted that Rhode Island’s best progress was made in the Legal and System Supports dimension largely due to the 2013 passage of the Temporary Caregiver Insurance program and Caregiver Assessment requirements for Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS).

In addition, to revisiting the 19 recommendations made following the release of AARP’s 2011 Scorecard, the more recent 2014 analysis recommends five new major policy initiates to improve the littlest state’s LTSS. Among the recommendations: funding of an Aging and Disability Resource Center; the developing an online benefits screening tool to allow access to income-assistance benefits and conducting outreach programs to increase participation; reviewing the Rhode Island’s Nurse Practice Act to allow nurse delegation of certain health maintenance and nursing tasks to direct care workers; requiring hospitals to provide education and instruction to family caregivers regarding nursing care needs when a patient is being discharged; and exploring emerging medical technologies to better serve home and community based clients.

The current analysis finds that only four recommendations out of the 2011 recommendations have been implemented, most notably those to promote coordination of primary, acute and long-term care and to strengthen family caregiver supports.

Meanwhile, only six recommendations were partially implemented, including the expansion of the home and community co-pay program and authority (but not implementation) under the 1115 Medicaid waiver renewal to provide expedited eligibility for Medicaid HCBS and for a limited increase in the monthly maintenance allowance for persons on Medicaid HCBS who transition out of nursing homes. Finally, nine recommendations, although still relevant, have not been implemented.

Response and Comments

Responding to the release of AARP’s 2014 Scorecard and state-wide analysis, Governor Gina Raimondo says, “we need to ensure that we have a strong system of nursing home care for those who truly need those services, but we must invest our Medicaid dollars more wisely to support better outcomes. We cannot continue to have the fourth highest costs for nursing home care (as a percent of median income of older households) and also rank near the bottom of all states in investments in home and community-based care.”

According to Raimondo, the state’s Working Group to Reinvent Medicaid is looking closely at AARP’s Scorecard and state-specific analysis and Rhode Island’s spending on nursing home and long-term care. Health & Human Services Secretary Elizabeth Roberts has directed her staff to look directly at the proposals recommended by AARP Rhode Island.

“I expect the Working Group will include specific proposals stemming from these findings in their April budget recommendations and their long-term strategic report they will complete in July,” says the Governor.

AARP Rhode Island Executive Director Connell, representing over 130,000 Rhode Island members, was not at all surprised by the findings of the recently released 2014 Scorecard. “Based on benchmarks set in the 2011 Scorecard, it was apparent that there was much work to do,” she says, recognizing that there are “limited quick fixes.”

“Some steps in the right direction will not lead to an immediate shift in the data. This is a big ship we’re trying to steer on a better course. We were encouraged, however, by ‘improving’ grades for lower home-care costs and the percentage of adults with disabilities ‘usually or always’ getting needed support rising from 64 percent to 73 percent,” adds Connell.

Connell says that the Rhode Island General Assembly is considering legislation to improve the delivery of care, which might just improve the state’s future AARP ‘report’ cards.” “In this session, there is an opportunity to improve long-term supports and services with passage of several bills, including one that would provide population-based funding for senior centers,” she says, stressing that it’s a “responsible investment that will help cities and towns provide better services.”

Connell adds, “The proposed CARE Act gives caregivers better instruction and guidance when patients are discharged and returned to their homes. This can be a cost saver because it can reduce the number of patients returned for treatment or care.”

The larger mission for state leaders is the so-called ‘re-balancing’ of costs from nursing care to home to community-based care. That’s where real savings can occur and home is where most people would prefer to be anyway.”

Finally, Virginia Burke, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Health Care Association, a nursing facility advocacy groups, supports the implementation of the policy initiatives recommended by AARP’s state-specific analysis. But, “The primary driver of our state’s nursing facility use is the extremely advanced age of our elders,” Burke says, noting that the need for nursing facility care is more than triple for those aged 85 and older than for seniors just a decade younger. Due to the state’s demographics you probably won’t see a change of use even if you put more funding into community based home services, she adds.

Governor Gina Raimondo and the General Assembly leadership will most certainly find it challenging to show more improvement by the time the next Scorecard ranks the states. Older Rhode Islanders deserve to have access to a seamless system, taking care of your specific needs. Creative thinking, cutting waste and beefing up programs to keeping people in their homes as long as can happen might just be the first steps to be taken. But, the state must not turn its back on nursing facility care, especially for those who need that level of service.

Herb Weiss, LRI ’12 is a Pawtucket writer who covers aging, health care and medical issues. He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.