Archive for September 2009
SustiNet update
The second SustiNet Board meeting today was uneventful. Stan Dorn of the Urban Institute gave a presentation on the original SustiNet plan; his presentation was made possible with support from the Universal Health Care Foundation of CT and the CT Health Foundation. He congratulated CT on passing a roadmap for comprehensive health care reform in…
Read MoreDSS gets an earful at PCCM subcommittee meeting
Today’s PCCM subcommittee meeting of the Medicaid Managed Care Council was very heated. Again the room was packed, including four legislators in person and one on the phone. DSS reported that they still have 54 providers in the Waterbury and Willimantic areas participating; no increase from the last meeting two months ago. They are beginning…
Read MoreChallenges and promise of PCCM highlighted in today’s Waterbury Republican-American
An article on the front page of today’s Waterbury Republican-American describes both the potential for PCCM and the challenges in implementing the program, especially with a reluctant state agency responsible for marketing. Volunteers have been left with the job of letting people know about the opportunity and what the program is. Sandi Carbonari, a Waterbury…
Read MoreThe Day Editorial – He snores, so why can’t we buy health insurance?
Susan Epstein has so many good points, it is hard to know where to start. “Don’t think it can’t happen to you. We’re ordinary people. My husband snores and I take too much medicine and therefore, we’re ineligible for health insurance.” Ellen Andrews
Read MoreFrom the Consumer Helpline
A consumer called our helpline because he has Medicaid and can’t find a primary care provider in New Haven who takes Medicaid and will take a new patient. He tried looking on the DSS Provider Directory Search and called the doctors listed there. They weren’t taking new Medicaid patients. He tried asking his specialist, who…
Read MoreMedicaid Managed Care Council update
Today’s Medicaid Managed Care Council meeting touched on some new issues and revisited some old ones. There was a strong exchange on the Charter Oak annual $100,000 and lifetime $1 million limits. Sen. Prague talked about a patient who called her office needing treatment for cancer that exceeded the annual cap. He was eventually able…
Read MoreUninsured up 17,000 in CT last year
The new Census figures on health insurance released today show that CT’s uninsured rate was up to 10% last year. 343,000 state residents were without insurance, including 44,000 children. The really stunning finding is that private employer-based coverage was down by 107,000. Thankfully government coverage picked up more people, about evenly split between Medicaid and…
Read MoreMiddlesex Hospital has an online ER clock
If you need an emergency room in the Middletown area, you can now go online to see what the waiting time is at Middlesex Hospital’s three ERs. As the volume of ER patients rises across the state, wait times have grown to average four hours according to the Courant. Patients in Middletown can now reduce…
Read MoreMore on the challenges and promise of primary care
Today’s NY Times features an article on a summer immersion program linking University of Washington medical students back into rural and underserved communities. The video is the best part. Students experience the frustrations of caring for people without adequate coverage, without the resources they need to be well, all in a few minutes for each…
Read MoreThe best argument for primary care I’ve heard in a long time
From the WSJ blog — http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/09/08/how-one-doc-discovered-the-connection-between-heart-disease-and-depression Read down to the third paragraph for the story that makes the point. Ellen Andrews
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