NEWS

La. lags in at-home services for disabled people

Melinda Deslatte

BATON ROUGE – The legislative auditor says Louisiana ranks behind most of the nation in using home- and community-based services to treat people who are developmentally disabled.

A new report released Monday says Louisiana has the sixth-highest number of people around the country who are developmentally disabled and living in 24-hour care facilities, even after closing most state-owned facilities.

The state's Medicaid program covers much of the costs of the care.

The high use of "intermediate care facilities" comes despite a national trend to offer people more care options to stay with or near families and communities.

The report comes as the state health department is working to shift to a more insurance-based model for providing long-term care services, including for people who have developmental disabilities.