Archive for September 2018
CT hospital readmission penalties up for next year
Next year, Medicare will penalize CT hospitals by an average of 0.74% in readmission penalties and all CT hospitals will pay a penalty, according to an analysis by Kaiser Health News. Nationally hospital penalties averaged less at 0.57%, and 574 US hospitals will have no penalty. Since 2012 hospitals have been penalized if they have…
Read MoreMedicaid update: Enrollment numbers coming finally, highlighting progress
Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on enrollment numbers and reviewing achievements in the program. DSS outlined challenges that have delayed reporting enrollment numbers for two years and their new system for reporting the numbers. Rather than getting enrollment reports on paper as in the past, DSS is posting the data on CT Open Data. Visitors…
Read MoreConnecticut’s uninsured rate up, reversing four-year trend
New numbers from the US Census Bureau report that 194,000 or 5.5% of Connecticut residents were uninsured last year. That number is up 22,000 from the year before when the uninsured rate was 4.9%. The new data breaks a trend of fewer uninsured that began with implementation of coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act…
Read MoreCT uninsured numbers up breaking four year trend
The US Census estimates that last year 194,000 CT residents, 5.5% of us, were uninsured according to data released today. That is up 22,000 and 4.9% from the previous year’s estimate. This mirrors national trends with 715,000 more uninsured Americans last year than in 2016. Unfortunately CT lost more ground from 2016 to 2017, with…
Read MoreCTNJ op-ed: Health disparities are real and new payment schemes are probably making them worse
Connecticut is a very healthy place; we rank fifth healthiest among states. But not all state residents share in that good fortune; too many suffer from health inequities. Very good people across the state are doing important work promoting better health for everyone. However some emerging policies, both government and private sector, are working at…
Read MoreCT excels at getting Medicaid-eligible families enrolled
A new study finds that 96.3% of CT children eligible for HUSKY participated in the program in 2016; we are tied for seventh among states. The US average is 93.7% for all states; 94.9% for states, like CT, that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Even better, CT ranks fourth among states in enrolling…
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