“There is often a disconnect between the worlds of health care and social services, with each sometimes having different goals, different terminology and different ways of being paid.

But individuals and their families fare better when all of their health needs and preferences are being taken into account, and where older people overwhelmingly prefer to have their health needs met and services provided is in their homes and the communities in which they live.

This, along with the need to drive health care utilization and costs down, has led to a movement toward coordination and integration of health care and social services (or long-term services and supports). This movement is increasingly supported by policy such as the new flexibility afforded to Medicare Advantage plans.”

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