Priority Indicator #13: Percentage of Long-term Medicaid Clients Served at Home or in Community-Based Settings

Contents: Background Information | Data Tables | Data Charts | Commentary | Download Data

Background Information

What Does This Indicator Mean?
 This indicator measures the proportion of long-term Medicaid clients (senior citizens or disabled individuals) who are currently being cared for in a substitute home or in their own homes rather than a nursing facility.

Referring to a specific time period and geographic region, this indicator measures the sum of the total numbers of Medicaid-enrolled individuals being cared for in their own homes and in substitute homes, divided by the total number of Medicaid-enrolled individuals receiving long-term care.

Other Risk Factors or Indicators to Consider
This indicator is highly subject to changes in the demographic make-up of a community.  Factors such as the general aging of the population, in-migration of elderly--particularly in the case of a retirement community--and increases in the construction of long-term care homes in a community will all significantly affect this indicator.

Long term care is unique from many of the other indicators measured within the CHIP project, in that it is neither a public health and safety issue, nor is it something that can be substantially controlled by changes in public policy.  The decision about where a long-term care patient is largely individual, and to the extent that different settings are allowed by federal Medicaid law, this indicator will be largely independent of other health-related indicators.

Limitations of the Data
These data are reported to the state at the branch office level.  The city reported is the city in which the branch office is located, which may not accurately reflect the city in which the resident is being served.

Data are reported by all facilities receiving state or federal Medicaid funds and are regularly audited.  They are considered highly complete and accurate.

Data Sources

  • State of Oregon Department of Human Services, Senior and Disabled Services Division

Presentation and Description of Data

The table below shows the percentage of long-term Medicaid clients who are served at home or in community-based settings such as substitute homes.  

  January 1998 January 1999 January 2000 January 2001
Marion County 67.1% 71.9% 74.8% 77.5%
Polk County 66.2% 68.9% 73.5% 76.2%

Places in Marion County
Salem area 67.7% 71.6% 74.6% 77.9%
Woodburn area 65.6% 72.8% 75.6% 76.3%
Places in Polk County
Dallas area 66.2% 68.9% 73.5% 76.2%
Source: Senior and Disabled Services Division data, compiled by Marion-Polk CHIP.  http://www.willamette.edu/publicpolicy/chip

The chart below shows the percentage of long-term Medicaid clients who were being cared for in a substitute home or their own home.

Commentary

As can be seen from the chart above, the percentage of Medicaid clients receiving community-based care has increased in recent years in both Marion and Polk Counties.  The percentage has been higher in Marion County than Polk County for all years, though only slightly.

Download the Data

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  This page last updated 3 October 2001