Long-Term Care Preferences: A Survey of Alabama Residents Age 35+

Through its Real Choice Systems Change Grants program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have been supporting the development of additional home and community-based care services. One such systems change effort is the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Program through which individuals eligible for long-term care services decide the settings in which they receive services and funds are allocated to support their choices.

While the Alabama State Legislature evaluates the MFP program, this survey of state residents age 35 and up investigates their long-term care (LTC) preferences, prior experience with LTC services, and support for home and community-based care programs and the MFP program in particular.

Of those surveyed...

• 89 percent consider having LTC services that would allow them to remain in their own very important to them, and they want a variety of such services available in their communities
• 85 percent would support the creation of the MFP program in Alabama to allow people to receive care in their preferred setting
• 63 percent say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports creating the MFP program

The telephone survey of 800 randomly selected age 35+ Alabamians was conducted for AARP by Woelfel Research, Inc. between December 12th and 27th, 2006. Further information about the survey may be obtained by contacting the report's author, Anita Stowell-Ritter of AARP Knowledge Management, at 202-434-6205. (28 pages)