Archive for February 2009
The federal stimulus and SCHIP: How much help is there for CT’s health?
A new analysis by the CT Health Policy Project details significant relief for CT’s consumers and our state budget in new federal legislation. CT can expect $1.3 billion in higher Medicaid reimbursements raising our matching rate from 50% to 56.2% until the end of next year, but the money comes with strings. To qualify the…
Read MoreBehavioral Health Partnership Update
DSS delivered some very good news at Wednesday’s meeting of the Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council. The Behavioral Health Partnership (BHP) provides mental health and substance abuse services to HUSKY, SAGA and DCF clients; DSS hired Value Options to administer the program but retains a great deal of oversight. The BHP was created when behavioral…
Read MoreSt. Raph’s defaults on $88 m in debt; imbalance in state funding blamed
New Haven’s Hospital of St. Raphael is facing a $35.5m budget hole and cannot make payments on $88 million of debt, according to the New Haven Independent. The hospital is working with insurers who cover the debt on an emergency spending plan that includes closing an ambulatory center that now loses money (awaiting state approval…
Read MoreMore companies conducting dependent coverage eligibility audits
Until recently most companies have just taken an employee’s word that the people they list for coverage under their family benefits are eligible. However, as health costs rise and margins drop more employers are checking, according to the Wall Street Journal. Almost three in four large US companies intend to conduct “dependent eligibility audits” this…
Read MoreCT insurers push plan for universal health care; Rests on individual mandate
According to today’s Hartford Courant, CT’s insurance industry is promoting a plan to cover everyone in the state. The industry is proposing to create a pool for individuals who can’t get or can’t afford insurance in the market now. They expect state subsidies to make the coverage affordable – there is no mention of the…
Read MoreCharter Oak calls to the Consumer Helpline
I have been receiving a lot of calls on our Consumer Helpline (1-888-873-4585) from people having trouble signing up for the Charter Oak Health Care plan. Many of them are having difficulty in even getting answers to their questions from the toll free number that is the only one available for them to use. The…
Read MoreMedicaid Managed Care Council/PCCM update
At Friday’s Council meeting DSS announced that not only did they default HUSKY families in Anthem and traditional Medicaid to only the two new HMOs – Aetna and AmeriChoice — but that they will continue defaulting into only AmeriChoice all through February. Reportedly 63,000 HUSKY members were defaulted on February 1st.The reason given is to…
Read MoreTen Ways to Save Money and Improve Health Care Quality
For Ten Ways to Save Money that Improve Quality in CT’s Health Care – so we don’t have to cut important resources for working CT families — visit our OP-ED on CT News Junkie. For sources and more details, click here.
Read MoreGovernor releases her budget proposal
As promised, the Governor’s state budget proposal for the next two years released today includes painful cuts. Overall, Medicaid would be cut $283 million (6.8%) in the first year and $317 million (7.2%) in the second year. SAGA would be cut $13 m (5%) and $14 m (6.5%) in the two years. Among the proposals…
Read MorePrimary Care Authority meeting
At today’s meeting, the Primary Care Authority accepted UConn’s report *check link * assessing CT’s primary care workforce capacity. The upshot of the report is that by a simple calculation of licensed providers per population we are OK. But that is only part of the story – that is probably an overestimate. The list of…
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