Archive for March 2008
Courant column highlights UConn nursing program troubles
Too many graduates of UConn’s School of Nursing are not passing the national nursing exam according to Kevin Rennie’s column in today’s Hartford Courant. Apparently the poor performance is not new this year, but is unique to UConn. Nursing graduates of Quinnipiac University, Western CT State University and St. Joseph’s College are easily passing benchmarks.…
Read MoreHuman Services Committee passes bill delaying HUSKY HMO contracting and delinking from Charter Oak
Today the Human Services Committee passed a stripped down version of HB-5618, An Act Concerning Revisions to the HUSKY Plan. The new language would delay HUSKY contracting with HMOs until July 1, 2009, delink procurement of HUSKY from the Charter Oak Plan, and provide for a study of recent changes to HUSKY including implementation of…
Read MoreStocks up, but health insurers down
While the stock market yesterday enjoyed its biggest gain in five years, based on relief from the Federal Reserve, health insurers’ stocks dropped after Wellpoint warned that the company expects less profit than originally anticipated for the first quarter and all through 2008. After the announcement, Wellpoint shares dropped by more than 28%. The company…
Read MoreHealth care disparities more about where care is delivered
The latest issue of Health Affairs focusing on Disparities: Expanding the Focus includes almost two dozen articles on the subject. Two that stand out examine racial and ethnic disparities in the quality of hospital care. The first, D. Gaskin, et. al., Do Hospitals Provide Lower Quality Care to Minorities than to Whites? studied outcomes of…
Read MoreDonaghue Foundation Annual Conference
Beyond Eureka!, the Donaghue Foundation’s annual meeting/conference on translating health care research into practice, will be Wednesday April 23rd at the Hilton in Hartford from 8:30am to 3pm. Atul Gawande, author of two bestsellers and a MacArthur Genius Fellow, will give the keynote address. Other speakers include Harlan Krumholz of D2B: An Alliance for Quality,…
Read MoreOregon holds lottery – not for millions, but for health care coverage
From the Case Center for Reducing Health Disparities blog, for the first time in four years, there are openings in the Oregon Health Plan Standard. The state program covers the basics including medical services, medications, and limited dental and vision services. OHP Standard is offered at little or no cost to very low income residents…
Read MoreHealthcare Partnership public hearing
HB-5536, An Act Establishing the Connecticut Healthcare Partnership is being heard in the Labor Committee as I am writing. The idea, being championed by House Majority Leader Chris Donovan, is to allow municipalities, small businesses and non-profit organizations to purchase health benefits through the state employee pool. The hope is that municipalities and others will…
Read MoreCT Health Notes highlights
Some highlights from the latest issue of CT Health Notes — the CT Health Policy Project’s e-newsletter: Access to kidney disease treatment and transplants varies by race and insurance status Hispanics’ and African-Americans’ health insurance less secure Privately insured Americans get earlier cancer diagnoses Geographic variation in health care spending Click here for more on…
Read MoreHealth First Authority update and callers to the helpline
Yesterday, I was in a meeting of the Cost, Cost Containment, and Finance sub-group of the HealthFirst Connecticut Authority. The conversation focused on cost containment strategies in three different contexts. In some cases, wellness programs were credited with playing a role – albeit a vague role – in reducing costs. These are the programs sometimes…
Read MoreNew Haven Teen Pregnancy Council makes recommendations
New Haven has formed a new council to address the city’s teen pregnancy rate which is twice the state average. According to the New Haven Register, in 2005 almost one in four 19-year old city residents had at least one child. While the rate is dropping, the rate for Latinos is still rising. The Council…
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