Posts by Ellen Andrews
Lousy student health insurance – An update
Aetna Student Health finally returned my call about the $500 in medical bills they haven’t paid. Now I’m getting a completely different answer (I think I’ve been given about four different explanations so far). The most recent customer service representative said that I met the maximum benefit level for this medical service. I explained that…
Read MoreAppropriations passes a budget
The budget approved by the Appropriations Committee restores many of Governor Rell’s proposed cuts to health care programs. The committee did not agree to the Governor’s proposed co-pays and premiums on HUSKY families; imposition of premiums would jeopardize significant federal stimulus funding. Also to ensure CT gets new federal funding, the committee rejected the Governor’s…
Read MoreHUSKY waiver hearing – good and bad news on PCCM
As expected, yesterday’s Medicaid waiver hearing before the Human Services and Appropriations Committees was contentious and long. DSS brought out the troops – I counted nineteen staff in the room and they flew in two actuaries from Mercer. CMS also came in from Boston. DSS began with a rosy, but incomplete, description of the program…
Read MoreApril CT Health Policy Web Quiz
Test your knowledge of trends in CT’s uninsured, take the April CT Health Policy Web Quiz. This month’s quiz was written by Karen Nepomuceno, Policy Intern at the CT Health Policy Project.
Read MoreHUSKY waiver hearing tomorrow; DSS proposal kills PCCM
The Human Services and Appropriations Committees are holding a public hearing tomorrow, March 31st, at 1pm in the LOB Room 2C on DSS’ proposed HUSKY waiver. Sign up begins at 11am in Room 2700; bring 50 copies of testimony. The waiver draft codifies DSS’ reversed course from the legislatively approved PCCM plan and limits the…
Read MoreSustiNet plan approved by Public Health Committee
HB- 6600, An Act Concerning the SustiNet Plan, passed out of the Public Health Committee yesterday on a party line vote. SustiNet is the only comprehensive health care reform plan currently being considered in Connecticut. Concerns raised at the Committee meeting included the costs of the plan, merging state employees with Medicaid, and increasing Medicaid…
Read MorePCCM waiver hearing March 31st
Next Tuesday the Human Services and Appropriations Committees will hold a public hearing on DSS’ proposed waiver application to continue to run the HUSKY program. Click here for our comments. The notable part of DSS’ application is the decision to limit Primary Care Case Management (PCCM) to Waterbury and Willimantic and to only a select…
Read MoreInside the LOB — Everyone wants what they want
This legislative session I have been to several Public Health Committee hearings and the Appropriations Committee hearing at which I testified. I noticed many interest groups and most of them are asking for money. They either want an increase in funding or they don’t want their funding to be cut. The issues being brought to…
Read MoreDoing nothing is not an option
Go to Saturday’s OP-ED in CT News Junkie to see why the President is right and we can’t settle for a lot of little somethings anymore. Ellen Andrews
Read MoreMatch Day 2009 not good news for primary care
Yesterday was Match Day – the day graduating medical students are matched with residency slots. According to the WSJ blog, only 42% of family practice slots went to students graduating from US medical schools this year. The rest went to foreign school grads, osteopathic medicine graduates, and graduates from prior years. Nine percent of those…
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