Marrying Medicare and Medicaid Funding For Innovations in Service Delivery

Aging Services of Washington is engaged with DSHS in the development of proposals to implement necessary reforms that would serve to reduce fragmentation, simplify access, improve outcomes and reduce costs for Washington's 135,000 Medicare/Medicaid dual eligible citizens.

We are urging the state to pursue innovative models of service delivery successfully demonstrated in other states; Vermont's SASH program is just one example, allowing Medicare and Medicaid funded services to be provided to seniors in their HUD subsidized low income housing apartments.

Washington is one of 15 states that received a planning grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to design model(s) of care that will improve the quality, coordination and cost effectiveness of care for individuals who are dual-eligibles. The design plan is due to CMS in April 2012. CMS will review the submitted design plan to determine whether or not implementation funding will be awarded. The state will be notified of CMS’s award intent in late summer of 2012.