UMASS BOSTON GERONTOLOGY NEWS

NOVEMBER 2024

New Study: Medicaid Reimbursements Fail to Meet Actual Costs of Caring for Medicaid Nursing Home Residents

For each dollar a nursing home spends providing daily care to a Medicaid recipient, the average nursing home receives just 82 cents in reimbursement. This was the top-level finding of a study led by multiple researchers, including research faculty, staff, and graduate students with the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston.


“If we really care about our most vulnerable citizens and we require nursing homes to provide high-quality care to them, then it's incumbent on us to assure that they have the sufficient resources to provide that high-quality care,” says Marc A Cohen, one of the authors of the study and the co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center at UMass Boston, which initiated this study.

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A screenshot from the Collective Insight documentary, "Reimagining Expertise: Engaging Older Adults as Research Partners"

How—and Why—to Engage Older Adults as Research Partners

Older adults can be powerful research partners in gerontology research, according to a new documentary by Collective Insight. The video, created in partnership with LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, advocates for a paradigm shift in gerontology research. The voices of adult adults, particularly those in underrepresented communities, should be included throughout the research process.


“By bringing people who have that [lived] experience to the table to talk with researchers, it broadens people’s understanding of what expertise really is,” says Erin McGaffigan, founder of Collective Insight and a Fellow of the Gerontology Institute.

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2024 GSA ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING

UMass Boston Gerontology students at GSA 2024 Annual Meeting

UMass Boston Gerontology Makes a Strong Showing at GSA 2024

Faculty, alumni, and students from UMass Boston Gerontology attended the 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, held in Seattle from November 13 to 16, 2024. 


“Our students and faculty assume leadership positions within the association, including helping to plan aspects of the annual meeting, at which they received well-deserved honors and recognitions and presented close to 120 poster and oral presentations,” says Edward Alan Miller, professor and chair of the Department of Gerontology at UMass Boston. “UMass Boston Gerontology made an indelible mark at this year’s annual meeting, one of the largest ever."

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UMASS BOSTON GERONTOLOGY IN THE NEWS



National Study Confirms Medicaid Payments Fall Short of Costs, Shows Links to Staffing Levels and Ownership. Skilled Nursing News interviews Edward Miller about the ASPE study that found Medicaid payment rates don't cover the actual daily costs of nursing home care.


Report Reveals How Medicaid Payments Stack Up Against Nursing Homes’ Cost of Care. McKnights Long-Term Care News covers the ASPE study that showed a gap in Medicaid reimbursement rates and nursing care costs, as well as connections between funding and staffing.


Expert insights about the most affordable cities for retirees. In this USA Today piece, Jan Mutchler provides advice to retirees about affordability factors to consider before moving.


How States Can Move Toward Healthy Aging. On the "Risking Old Age in America" podcast, Taylor Jansen of University of Massachusetts Boston's Healthy Aging Data Reports Lab discusses healthy aging.


Retirement in America is a Disaster for Many. Is There Hope? This Yahoo! Finance piece quotes Edward Miller, who says that few people are well-prepared for retirement expenses. The piece also cites the Elder Index in its research about the average expenses retirees face compared to the retirement benefits they receive. 


Opinion: Seniors Risk Homelessness as Social Security Falls Short in High-Cost San Diego. In this opinion piece for Times of San Diego, writer Paul Downey relies on data from the Elder Index to show the inadequacy of Social Security to cover expenses in high-cost areas like southern California.


The 10 States Where Social Security Goes the Furthest. TheStreet uses The Elder Index to determine where Social Security benefits go furthest.


Harris Proposes that Medicare Cover More In-Home Health Care, Filling a Large Gap for Older Americans and their Caregivers. Jane Tavares and Marc Cohen assess Vice President Kamala Harris's proposal for Medicare to include home health care.


Online Master’s Degrees in Gerontology – Nursing Home Management. MHA Online profiles Edward Miller in his work as the department chair of the UMass Boston Gerontology program.


Gerontology Institute at University of Massachusetts Boston
Wheatley Hall 3rd Floor, Room 124A
UMass Boston,100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125


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