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Pennsylvania Awarded $42 Million For Money-Follows-The-Person To Support Medicaid Beneficiaries Receiving Long-Term Care Services In Their Communities

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By OPEN MINDS Circle

On July 21, 2023, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) announced that the state will receive an estimated $42 million in federal funding from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) through the Money Follows the Person Demonstration (MFP). This money will be used to continue existing programs and support new activities to better serve Medicaid beneficiaries receiving long-term care services. This funding is an annual reimbursement program. 

Through MFP, DHS has helped more than 6,000 individuals transition into the community since 2008. Individuals must meet the MFP criteria for PA to receive reimbursement:

  • At least 60 days in a long-term care facility
  • Transitioning to a qualified residence via CHC, LIFE program, or an approved waiver.

Projects funded with this year’s federal MFP administrative funding include:

  • Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy at Torrance State Hospital: Torrance State Hospital staff receive extensive training on the use of Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R). CT-R and case-specific work can help individuals facing complex behavioral needs finalize the care service plans needed for community discharge.
  • Nursing Home Transition Training: 700 nursing facilities will participate in training and resident education sessions so nursing facility staff can provide residents with information about the option to receive care and services in the community.
  • Capacity Building for the Dual Diagnosis Population and Individuals Under 21: The Capacity Building Institute (CBI) Strategy educates, informs, and trains staff to identify and work with individuals who have a dual diagnosis. CBI offers high level education with focus on best practices in supporting individuals with complex needs. Funding also supports education and training to build capacity of the multiple systems involved in serving individuals under 21 years of age with developmental and intellectual disabilities (I/DD) with complex needs transitioning from Residential Treatment Facilities (RTFs).
  • START PA: The START (Systemic, Therapeutic, Assessment, Resources, and Treatment) PA Program is a community-based program that assists individuals with an intellectual disability or autism and have a co-occurring mental illness. These individuals are at a higher risk for inpatient hospitalizations when they experience crisis and require a high level of specialized skill in assessment and treatment approaches. START PA builds upon local resources, works to close current gaps in the systems of care, and provides crisis intervention and response services and supports for these individuals in the community instead of in State Hospitals or State Centers.
  • Trauma Awareness and Intervention Programs: A collection of “micro-learning” resources about trauma-related issues that are updated and disseminated by the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) Project via a hub-and-spoke knowledge-sharing network. The ECHO Project addresses population health needs in a scalable way via tele-mentoring and collaborative care.
  • Landlord Risk Mitigation Fund: The state-wide Landlord Risk Mitigation Fund program is aimed at mitigating the perceived risks that landlords experience when considering renting to individuals with disabilities. The overall and intended net impact of this program is to increase this population’s ability to successfully secure rental housing.
  • Shared-Housing Project: The Shared Housing and Resource Exchange (SHARE) Program, the Pennsylvania Department of Aging’s shared housing match-up program, addresses the increasing need for affordable housing options for seniors by matching senior homeowners with individuals of all ages who are seeking a home. SHARE is currently operating in 13 counties.

The MFP program allows states to leverage federal dollars to help Medicaid beneficiaries who live in institutions to instead receive services they need in a community. The MFP program provides states with the financial flexibility to allow services to “follow the person” as both older residents, and those with a disability, transition from an institutional setting back into the community. MFP also supports capacity building initiatives aimed at diverting people from institutional settings. MFP funding has provided DHS with the ability to develop education/outreach, training, information technology (IT) enhancements, data analytics, capacity building, and pilot programs. As of 2023, CMS has issued more than $3.5 million in project grants for MFP. States have up to four fiscal years from the time of the last approval to utilize the funding for approved activities. 

For more information, contact: Press Office, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, 625 Forster Drive, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120; 717-425-7606; Email: ra-pwdhspressoffice@pa.gov; Website: https://www.dhs.pa.gov/index.htm