Spending on home and community-based services is on the rise as fewer dollars go to institutions, a new federal government report finds.

Nationally, Medicaid funding for long-term services and supports remained largely stagnant in 2012 but increasingly that money is being directed to services in the community.

Of the $140 billion allocated during fiscal year 2012 for long-term services and supports, 49.5 percent went toward community-based offerings, up from 48.7 percent in 2011, according to the report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The shift is due to a 2.4 percent increase for home and community-based services while funding for institutions declined 2.3 percent.

Long-term care services include those for people with developmental disabilities, older individuals or those with physical disabilities and people with serious mental illness or emotional disturbance.

Overall, 70 percent of funding for programs aimed at people with developmental disabilities was used for home and community-based services, the report found. That’s a significant increase since 1995 when just 30 percent went to such services.

Spending in 2012 ranged dramatically, however, from one state to the next with Arizona, Michigan, Oregon and Maryland devoting all funding for people with developmental disabilities to home and community-based services while Mississippi put just 14 percent toward offerings in the community, the report indicated.

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