Extreme out-of-network charges for CT health care services

A new survey of out-of-network physician claims finds some extremely high examples of over charging in CT. The highest example includes a bill for $26,881 for a lower back spinal fusion; the Medicare rate for that service is $1,572.95 or 17 times less. The report includes ten examples of out-of-network charges ranging from 1,709% to…

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Value-based purchasing and VT health care reform updates

Our second day of health panels at last week’s CSG/ERC annual meeting in Burlington VT started with a set of talks on value-based purchasing and how states can take advantage of this critical health reform trend. Value-based purchasing reorients financial incentives to align all stakeholders and reward improvements in health. The current fee-for-service system rewards…

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Farm to School panel at CSG/ERC meeting

This week I am in beautiful Burlington VT, on the shores of Lake Champlain, at the Council of State Governments/Eastern Regional Conference annual meeting. Our first health track panel was on farm to school programs. F2S programs are about far more than getting local foods into school cafeterias; it’s also about in-class nutrition education, farmers…

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