The New Jersey Care Partner Support Pilot Program (Pilot) was conducted in four counties in New Jersey (Atlantic, Mercer, Monmouth, and Warren Counties) during the four-month period of March 14, 2011, to July 15, 2011. The goal of the program was to improve the knowledge and skills of family caregivers caring for adult family members and friends participating in New Jersey’s Medicaid Global Options home and community-based services waiver (GO Waiver) and the state-only funded Jersey Assistance to Community Caregivers (JACC) program. The Pilot was one component of a larger initiative entitled Professional Partners Supporting Family Caregiving undertaken by the AARP Foundation with a grant from The John A. Hartford Foundation. Under a subcontract with the AARP Public Policy Institute, Hilltop assessed the experience with the Pilot.

View PDF

The Hilltop Institute developed a Health Care Reform Simulation Model, a financial modeling tool that projects the costs and savings of implementing the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), for the state of New Mexico. The basic approach of the simulation model developed for New Mexico was to compare the new costs and savings associated with health care reform with a baseline assumption of what those costs and savings would have been in the absence of reform.

This is a user’s guide for the fiscal model.

For this guide, we have assumed that model users have read the document, New Mexico Health Care Reform Fiscal Model: Detailed Analysis and Methodology, and are familiar with the methods of analysis that were used to develop the fiscal model.

View PDF

The Hilltop Institute developed a Health Care Reform Simulation Model, a financial modeling tool that projects the costs and savings of implementing the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), for the state of New Mexico. The basic approach of the simulation model developed for New Mexico was to compare the new costs and savings associated with health care reform with a baseline assumption of what those costs and savings would have been in the absence of reform.

 

This report provides a detailed analysis and methodology of the modeling tool.

View PDF

This is the third issue brief in a series resleased by Hilltop’s Hospital Community Benefit Program. It discusses a variety of options for collaboration in assessment, planning, priority setting, and implementation of health improvement initiatives; provides examples of diverse models already in place; and examines their impact on the communities in which they occur.

View PDF

This report describes and analyzes chronic disease patterns and health care expenditures of persons in Maryland who in 2008 began to receive coverage from both Medicare and Medicaid (Medicare-Medicaid enrollees). The analysis focuses on disease and expenditure patterns in the year before these individuals, most of whom had been enrolled in Medicare alone or Medicaid alone, became enrollees in both programs. Examining health status and expenditures of individuals before their eligibility for both programs can provide a better understanding of the characteristics associated with simultaneous enrollment in Medicare and Medicaid.Also under Task 20 of CMS Contract HHSM-500-2005-00026I/Task Order HHSM-500-T0004, awarded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to Thomson Reuters (Healthcare) Inc., Hilltop prepared Pathways to Medicare-Medicaid Eligibility: A Literature Review and New Medicare-Medicaid Enrollees in Maryland: Demographic and Programmatic Characteristics.

View PDF

This study, which focuses on new Medicare-Medicaid enrollees in Maryland and the circumstances that shaped their initial eligibility for both programs, is an attempt to begin to address several of the gaps identified in a prior literature review. This report details the demographic and programmatic characteristics of new enrollees. Specifically, it serves as the vehicle for establishing an initial operational definition of new enrollees and developing the terminology needed to describe the circumstances surrounding initial Medicare-Medicaid eligibility.Also under Task 20 of CMS Contract HHSM-500-2005-00026I/Task Order HHSM-500-T0004, awarded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to Thomson Reuters (Healthcare) Inc., Hilltop prepared Pathways to Medicare-Medicaid Eligibility: A Literature Review and New Medicare-Medicaid Enrollees in Maryland: Prior Medicare and Medicaid Resource Use.

View PDF

This paper, prepared for the National Governors Association, discusses the progress states have made in moving away from institutional care for Long-Term Supports and Services and toward home and community-based programs. It analyzes the opportunities available through the Affordable Care Act and other programs whereby states can continue that progress even in a challenging budget environment.

View PDF

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires states to either establish and operate a Health Insurance Exchange by 2014 or participate in the federal Exchange. On April 12, 2011, Governor O’Malley signed the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange Act of 2011, which established Maryland’s Exchange as an independent unit of the state government. The Act also established a Board of Trustees to oversee the Exchange. The Hilltop Institute was commissioned to develop a series of background papers in order to assist the Board in planning for the implementation of Maryland’s Exchange.This presentation, delivered by Senior Policy Analyst Martha Somerville, JD, MPH, discusses the background paper on health benefit plan contracting.

View PDF

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires states to either establish and operate a Health Insurance Exchange by 2014 or participate in the federal Exchange. On April 12, 2011, Governor O’Malley signed the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange Act of 2011, which established Maryland’s Exchange as an independent unit of the state government. The Act also established a Board of Trustees to oversee the Exchange. The Hilltop Institute was commissioned to develop a series of background papers in order to assist the Board in planning for the implementation of Maryland’s Exchange.This presentation, delivered by Hilltop Director of Special Research and Development Anthony M. Tucker, PhD, discusses the background paper on market rules and adverse selection.

View PDF

Director of Long-Term Services and Supports Policy and Research Cynthia H. Woodcock presented at the 27th National Home and Community-Based Services Conference in Washington, DC. This presentation provides an overview of the pilot program and data collection; describes profiles of care managers, care recipients, and caregivers; and discusses the project’s status and the next steps of the evaluation.

View PDF