Webinar: Study finds improved early cancer diagnosis and survival after MCOs left HUSKY

Join Rep. Jillian Gilchrest and Sen. Saud Anwar, Co-Chairs of MAPOC, for a webinar December 10th at 2pm with Dr. John Cramer on his study published in JCO Oncology Practice in January. His study found that cancer early detection have increased 4% and survival rates have increased 8% since MCOs left Connecticut Medicaid. There was…

Read More

Former Medicaid Official shares troubled MCO history

Download the comments In comments to DSS for their landscape study, former Medicaid official Steve Colangelo warns against returning the program to MCOs. He worked in the program before and after the MCOs left in 2012. He outlines the problems that plagued the program and DSS staff under the MCO model.  He details how the…

Read More

Analysis: How Trump’s Election Could Impact Healthcare in Connecticut

Health policy circles are buzzing with potential policy changes under the second Trump administration. Last time, Trump proposed significant cuts and administrative burdens for Medicaid, which covers 934,043 low-income Connecticut residents. That makes this a very bad time to be considering bringing the failed private Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) back into the program. Other significant…

Read More

Book Club: Revenge of the Tipping Point

Malcolm Gladwell revisits his 2006 classic in the new Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering. He expands and updates the original premise – that ideas and trends grow slowly, like a pandemic, until they hit a point where they go viral and radically change the context around the…

Read More

Sign on letter critical of biased consultants for HUSKY MCO study

On Friday, thirty-five organizations, advocates, and HUSKY members sent a letter to Governor Lamont raising concerns about the choice of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips as consultants to conduct the Medicaid survey and make recommendations. Concerns center on Manatt’s record of support for toward returning Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) in Medicaid programs. That’s a record number…

Read More

Former Medicaid official offers options to improve the program and a warning

Recently retired from DSS, Steven Colangelo answered the state’s invitation for recommendations to improve HUSKY. He worked at DSS more than 31 years, 10 in Medicaid, focused on the quality of care. His tenure crossed numerous state administrations and seismic shifts in Medicaid policy at the federal level. Steven opposes current state plans to return…

Read More

Advocates’ comments to improve Medicaid

In response to DSS’s invitation for comments, last week four consumer advocate members of CT’s Medical Assistance Program Oversight Council (MAPOC) offered constructive recommendations to improve the program. The authors acknowledge the success of Connecticut’s Medicaid program as a national leader in cost control, access and quality of care. The authors strongly recommend against returning…

Read More