New report on long-term medical care ranks Florida 44th in the nation

According to a new report, Florida ranks 44th in the U.S. for long-term care.

The AARP, the Commonwealth Fund and The SCAN Foundation have released a report titled, “A State Scorecard on Long-Term Services and Supports for Older Adults, People with Physical Disabilities, and Family Caregivers.”

According to the report (.pdf), the study is a “a multidimensional approach to measure state-level performance of long-term services and supports (LTSS) systems that provide assistance to older people and adults with disabilities.”

The study examines state performance in four areas: (1) affordability and access; (2) choice of setting and provider; (3) quality of life and quality of care; and (4) support for family caregivers.

Florida was ranked in the bottom quartile overall. According to the study, many of the “lagging states [that] scored in the bottom half of states on most dimensions … are in the South, and have among the lowest median incomes and highest rates of both poverty and disability in the nation.”

The report shows that low-performing states should improve choice and financial eligibility standards in their Medicaid programs.

Furthermore, according to the report, “the Affordable Care Act offers states promising new incentives for improving their LTSS systems, and the lowest performing states have the most to gain by taking advantage of these new provisions.”

Florida recently overhauled its long-term care Medicaid program. The state has also not been accepting money or implementing programs from the Affordable Care Act in the state.