In 2014, regulation was issued by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services which finalized the criteria for home and community-based services (HCBS) for the purposes of Medicaid funding. The criteria require settings receiving HCBS funding to facilitate beneficiary independence and decision-making in defining desired community-based living.

The Georgetown University National Center for Cultural Competence is now accepting applications for its Community of Practice (CoP) on Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Developmental Disabilities. The CoP seeks to transform state/territorial developmental disabilities systems by:

In a new handbook from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services entitled "Coordination of Benefits and Third Party Liability (COB/TPL) in Medicaid," guidance is provided that services provided under the Older Americans Act are an exception to the "Medicaid is payer of last resort" rule.

Today, the final rule for Independent Living (IL) programs went on display in the Federal Register. The rule was developed in close coordination with the independent living network and addresses the requirements of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Specifically, the final rule:

Good oral health is critical for older adults and younger adults with disabilities. Poor oral health is largely preventable and linked to a person’s overall health and serious chronic diseases. Unfortunately, older adults and adults with disabilities are at high risk of having poor oral health due to inadequate access to services and certain disabilities that make oral hygiene tasks hard to complete and obtaining services even more difficult.

ACL is working with a contractor to remind Medicare beneficiaries about Medicare Open Enrollment and the availability of volunteers from State Health Information and Assistance Programs (SHIP) to help make the most of Medicare coverage options. The matte release is as follows:

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) awarded a supplemental grant in the amount of $60,000 to the National Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC) to address a number of emerging issues. NORC provides significant training, technical assistance and program management expertise for state and local long-term care ombudsman (LTCO) programs.

Grants totaling $3.75 million over three years were awarded to the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD) and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) to build business capacity in the aging and disability services networks. Both projects will work together to build on the previous accomplishments of ACL’s business acumen work and to complement other publicly and privately funded technical assistance resource centers addressing this critical issue.

The President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID) 2016 Report is now available online.

ACL's Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) recently awarded more than $1.8 million in funding to six states to increase competitive employment outcomes for youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).