Division of Aging and
Adult Services
PO Box 1437
Slot S-530
Little Rock AR 72203

Appropriate, quality health care is essential for all Americans, but for people with disabilities, it can mean the difference between living independently in the community or living in an institutional setting.  This is the heart of the bipartisan New Freedom Initiative, an effort by the Federal government to help states rebalance their long-term care system.

In the not too distant past long-term care was synonymous with nursing homes.  Today long-term care is often provided in homes, adult day care centers and assisted living facilities—many of which look and feel very different than a nursing home.  However, the majority of Medicaid long-term care spending is for care in institutions. 

Enacted by Congress in 2005, the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Rebalancing Demonstration is part of a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to assist States, in collaboration with stakeholders, to make widespread changes to their long-term care support systems.  This initiative is assisting States in their efforts to reduce their reliance on institutional care while developing community-based long-term care opportunities, enabling the elderly and people with disabilities to fully participate in their communities.

The US Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $1.4 billion in grants to 31 States, including Arkansas, to achieve the following objectives:

1. Rebalancing — Increase the use of home and community-based, rather than institutional, long-term care services.

2. Money Follows the Person — Eliminate barriers or mechanisms, whether in the State law, the State Medicaid plan, the State budget, or otherwise, that prevent or restrict the flexible use of Medicaid funds to enable Medicaid-eligible individuals to receive support for appropriate and necessary long-term services in the settings of their choice.

3. Continuity of Service — Increase the ability of the State Medicaid program to assure continued provision of home and community-based long-term care services to eligible individuals who choose to transition from an institutional to a community setting.

4. Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement — Ensure that procedures are in place to provide quality assurance for eligible individuals receiving Medicaid home and community-based long-term care services and to provide for continuous quality improvement in such services.

Arkansas is currently in the planning phase of its MFP project.  Consumers, providers, nursing home operators, agencies and advocates are invited to participate in the development Arkansas’s “Operational Protocol.”  The Operational Protocol is the plan on how Arkansas will implement Money Follows the Person beginning in 2008.

A draft of the Operational Protocol is available on the Arkansas Money Follows the Person web site:  www.mfp.ar.gov.  Between now and the end of the year the Operational Protocol will be completed and submitted to the US HHS for their approval.

On November 7, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. the public is invited to participate in an interactive video conference on MFP.  Individuals attending the video conferences will be able to actively participate by asking questions and making comments.  Locations of the video conferences are:

• Batesville, 120 Weaver Avenue
• Fort Smith, 3112 South 7th
• Harrison, 1622 Campus Dr
• Hot Springs, 1425 Malvern Ave.
• Jonesboro, 611 E. Washington, Suite B
• Pine Bluff, 2306 Rike Drive
• Little Rock, 5800 West 10th Street - Room 906

Another opportunity to learn about the MFP project is the Arkansan Aging Conference at the Hot Springs Convention Center.  On Thursday, October 25 from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., staff will provide an overview, answer questions, and take comments.   Information on the Arkansas Aging Conference is available on the web:  http://www.state.ar.us/dhs/aging/ or by calling Connie Parker at 501-682-2441.

Division of Aging and Adult Services
Herb Sanderson, Director
PO Box 1437 - Slot S-530
Little Rock AR 72203-1437
Telephone: (501) 682-2441
Fax: (501) 682-8155