Posts by Ellen Andrews
Letter urges public input into Cabinet reform plan
Serous concerns have been raised by diverse stakeholders about the Health Care Cabinet’s Strawman proposal for health reform. Among the proposal’s very ambitious plans are merging a dozen state agencies that touch on health under one person, close “alignment” of Medicaid and the state employee plan, creation of a new agency to oversee and regulate…
Read MoreSeptember webquiz — C section rates in CT
Test your knowledge of C-Section rates in CT. Take the September CT Health Policy Webquiz.
Read MoreGAO reports find individual insurance markets concentrated in most states in 2014, but largest in CT losing market share
Recent news about insurers leaving AccessHealthCT, CT’s health insurance exchange, have raised concerns about lowering competition and rising prices for health insurance. CT is not alone. Prior to 2014 health insurance markets in most states were highly concentrated, according to the US General Accounting Office. However, the largest individual coverage insurer in CT, Anthem/Wellpoint, has…
Read MoreCT Health Reform Dashboard – Cabinet reform proposal concerns, Medicaid evaluation affirmed
September’s CT Health Reform Dashboard update reflects the controversy surrounding the Health Care Cabinet’s ambitious and controversial proposal for state health reform. But in good news, DSS and the advocates’ call for a proper evaluation of Medicaid reform, and using it to improve and adjust the program, have been affirmed. Concerns about SIM ethics and…
Read MoreCSG-ERC brief on VT’s drug price transparency law
In recent years drug costs have grown far faster than other health care services, last year growing 8.1% compared to overall health spending growth of 4.8%. Forty five new drugs were approved in the US last year, up from 41 the year before and 27 in 2013. Those increases are straining government budgets, squeezing out…
Read MoreDifferent polls, different questions – but people are worried about health care
A new poll, Inform CT Consumer Confidence Survey, finds that almost two thirds of CT residents are worried about health insurance affordability, up 12% in the last year. A new Gallup poll found that Americans’ perceptions of the health care and drug industries are the lowest among all sectors except the federal government. That means…
Read MoreNew to the Book Club: Creating Scientific Controversies
It’s a shame that this book is written in the style of a textbook rather than for the general public, because we all need to hear David Harker’s message. Created scientific controversies surround issues where there is broad scientific agreement but the public’s perception is that there is uncertainty and doubt. The false controversies can…
Read MoreReform is hard and Econ 101 doesn’t work
An article published today in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights the challenges in health reform and why the usual, simple fixes aren’t working. The article by Richard Bohmer, The Hard Work of Health Care Transformation, explains why changing financial incentives or governance structures aren’t sufficient to effect change. The status quo is very…
Read MoreCSG-ERC annual meeting in Quebec: States seek relief from rising prescription drug costs
The rising cost of health care is hitting hard across North America, both in houses of government and at home, around the kitchen table, where the cost of vital prescription drugs can too often make or break a household budget. From 2001 to 2011, health care spending by states jumped a staggering $5.1 billion across…
Read MoreLots of hospital quality news, CT not excelling
In the last few days several sources have released hospital quality rankings and measures. The bottom line — CT’s hospitals have a lot of work to do. CMS released their long-awaited five star system for hospital ratings, but no CT hospitals received five stars. In fact, only one earned four stars (Backus), 17 received…
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