LeadingAge recently featured Vermont’s SASH program in an article titled Affordable Senior Housing Plus Services Program Slows Growth in Medicare Costs. The article highlights early findings from a 3-year study conducted by the LeadingAge Center for Applied Research and RTI International, which can be found here. Below is an excerpt from the article citing findings from a first-year evaluation:
The SASH evaluation is funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The first-year evaluation compared SASH participants living in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-assisted properties to 2 demographically similar groups:
Medicare beneficiaries in Vermont who live in HUD-assisted properties and are included in a MAPCP medical home, but are not SASH participants (non-SASH/MAPCP).
Medicare beneficiaries in upstate New York living in HUD-assisted properties who are not participating in a MAPCP demonstration program or the SASH program (non-SASH/non-MAPCP). First-year results show that, between the baseline and intervention periods, total Medicare expenditures increased for all groups. However, the growth in these expenditures was lower for SASH participants, relative to either comparison group. The evaluation also examined SASH participants who joined the program earlier and those who joined later. The purpose was to gauge the impact of SASH on participants who had a longer exposure to more mature program operations. Those who joined the program earlier experienced a statistically significant lower rate of growth in:
Total Medicare expenditures and post-acute care payments, compared to the non-SASH/MAPCP group.
Total Medicare expenditures and acute care, post-acute care and hospital outpatient payments, compared to the non-SASH/non-MAPCP group. This may indicate that the SASH program will see a continued, and, perhaps, stronger effect as it operates longer.
To read the entire article, which includes an overview on how SASH works, click here.