A snapshot of Money Follows the Person Initiative

A Program Of The Georgia Department Of Community Health
A SNAPSHOT OF
Money Follows the Person Initiative
Overview The Money Follows the Person Initiative (MFP) is a five-year grant award to shift Medicaid Long-Term Care from its emphasis on institutional care to home and community-based services. Currently, Georgia's $1.5 billion in longterm care expenditures are 70 percent institutional, and 30 percent home and community-based services. The goal of the grant is to increase the percentage for home and community-based services to nearly 38 percent by October 2011. The MFP grant opportunity was made available as part of the Federal Deficit Reduction Act of Fiscal Year 2006. Georgia's grant of over $54 million in federal funds will operate through September 30, 2011.
Georgia's MFP Project MFP is a joint effort between the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) and the Department of Human Resources (DHR) to transition 1,312 Georgians over four years from institutional settings to the community through Georgia's waiver programs, which include: the Independent Care Waiver Program, Elderly and Disabled Waiver Programs and the Mental Retardation Waiver Program.
Eligible persons include those who have lived in a nursing facility or institution for at least six months and whose care has been covered by Medicaid in the months preceding their transition to home and community-based services Members must continue to meet institutional level of care criteria after transitioning to the community Target populations include older adults, adults and children with physical disabilities and/or traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and adults and children with mental retardation and/or developmental disabilities MFP includes 15 new transition services to assist institutional members in resettling in the community. These services include one-time purchases of basic household items and furnishings, utility deposits, security deposits, transportation to assist in housing searches and limited funding for home environmental modifications. Most of these new transition services will be eligible for an enhanced federal match. In most cases, this enhanced match will reduce Georgia's share to less than 20 percent Through MFP, the state will establish a seamless information and referral process, transition coordinators, support services to ease transition, transition peer counselors and increased availability of affordable housing and transportation
MFP Funding Beginning September 1, 2008, eligible persons started transitioning to the community. In 2009, DCH proposes to transition 100 eligible persons with physical disabilities and/or TBI from nursing facilities into the Independent Care Waiver Program. DHR will transition an estimated 100 older adults into the Elderly and Disabled Waiver Programs and an estimated 150 persons with mental retardation or developmental disabilities from institutions into the community using the New Options Waiver Program/Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (NOW/COMP), which offer home or community-based services for people with mental retardation or developmental disabilities.
For more information about the program, please contact Alice Hogan at (404) 651-6889, or e-mail her at ahogan@dch.ga.gov

2 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Ga 30303 www.dch.georgia.gov

January 2009