Posts by Ellen Andrews
Dodd/DeLauro health reform event
Saturday Sen. Dodd and Rep. DeLauro hosted a well-attended town hall discussion on national health care reform at Griffin Hospital in Derby. Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Reform, was the invited speaker. It was good theater, but there was little concrete information about what they are considering, how it might…
Read MoreSustiNet Day at the Capitol
Wednesday was SustiNet Day at the Capitol, where hundreds of supporters gathered to show they are in favor of SustiNet and health care reform. Participants wore red t-shirts from the healthcare4every1 campaign with the campaign’s logo on the front and “SustiNet: Health Care We Can Count on” printed on the back. Participants sat in the…
Read MoreWe need your feedback — Opt in/out policy option for eHealthCT health information exchange
eHealth Connecticut, a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging the secure exchange of health information in our state, is working with DSS to implement a pilot health information exchange for Medicaid patients. As part of that pilot project, the CT Health Policy Project is working with eHealth Connecticut to develop a privacy and security policy for…
Read MoreLast year drug costs rose for children, were down for seniors, and CT prescription use was below average
An annual report on drug costs and utilization by Medco, a pharmacy services company that covers over 60 million people, found that prescription drug costs rose by 3.3% in 2008 fueled mainly by price increases. For the first in ten years, utilization of prescriptions actually decreased (by 1.1%). Use of drugs by children grew by…
Read MoreWhite House reform chief coming to CT
Senator Dodd and Congresswoman DeLauro will host a visit from Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Reform. The visit, part of Sen. Dodd’s town hall meetings on health care, will be at 11:30 this Saturday morning, May 16th in the cafeteria at Griffin Hospital, 130 Division Street, Derby. Sen. Dodd is…
Read MoreCT Overweight and Obesity forum
Join us at the Overweight and Obesity in CT forum this Thursday May 14th 8:30 to 11:30am at Wilde Auditorium, University of Hartford. The forum, hosted by the new Public Health Policy Institute of CT, will feature the Institute’s inaugural policy paper outlining the problem in CT, the impact of current policies and recommendations to…
Read MoreSutiNet bill modified
For budget and political reasons the SustiNet bill was changed last week. The new version creates a 14 member volunteer SustiNet Health Partnership Board of Directors across stakeholder groups tasked with making recommendations to the legislature by Jan. 1, 2011. The goals of SustiNet remain the same and much of the detail remained in the…
Read MoreMedicaid Managed Care Council/Charter Oak update
The news from today’s Council meeting is that while Charter Oak’s enrollment continues to increase – 8,210 as of May 1st — the number of people denied coverage under the program is far higher — 18,635 so far. While 705 of those were denied because they have coverage or have had it in the last…
Read MoreNotes from community outreach
Yesterday I did an outreach event for about 25 participants in the STRIVE- New Haven program to let them know about different health insurance options. STRIVE does “employability skills training workshops” for residents of greater New Haven to help them find and keep jobs. STRIVE is a comprehensive job and life-training program with a great…
Read MoreNew book for the book club
According to the Environment Protection Agency, a human life is worth $6.1 million. That estimate came out of cost-benefit analyses of arsenic from drinking water. Priceless, by Frank Ackerman and Lisa Heinzerling (2004), provides a fascinating look at the assumptions and questionable methodologies used to develop cost benefit analyses across fields. The costs of arsenic…
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