Posts by Ellen Andrews
Updated CT Health System Primer online
Our Basics of CT’s Health System has been updated for 2016. It addresses private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, the uninsured, health care financing, reform and where CT stands. The primer is part of our resource collection available at cthealthbook.org.
Read MoreCT Health Reform Dashboard – SIM ethics problems growing, hospital mergers threaten
August’s CT Health Reform Dashboardupdate is again very active – and not in a good way. Thousands of working HUSKY parents lost coverage this week. SIM ethics problems continue to plague reform efforts. Efforts to bypass DSS’s prudent evaluation of the new, untested, very ambitious Medicaid reform plan are disturbing. Consultants for the Health Care…
Read MoreAugust CT Health Policy Webquiz: Top salaries at CT hospitals and health systems
Test your knowledge of top salaries at CT’s hospitals and health systems. Take the August CT Health Policy Web Quiz.
Read MoreCTHPP website down, apologies
Our CT Health Policy Project website has been down for an unacceptable length of time. (I know some of you feel our pain.) Be assured we are working furiously on a solution – both short and long-term. We apologize for any inconvenience. If there is something you are looking for, please let us know at…
Read MoreTwenty-six advocates support DSS decision to evaluate Medicaid reform
Wednesday 26 independent consumer advocates wrote the Lieutenant Governor supporting DSS’s decision to evaluate outcomes after the first wave of 200,000+ members into the new Medicaid shared savings program, MQISSP. The advocates support DSS’s prudent plan to assess the impact, good and bad, and make revisions before moving more people into the untested program. Enlightened…
Read MoreOHCA hears more from community about harm from YNHH-L&M deal
Tuesday OHCA got another earful from community members, providers and experts as they continued the public hearing on Yale-New Haven’s application to acquire L&M hospital and medical group. Intervenors, including the CT Health Policy Project, continued our testimony about likely price increases and loss of services in the New London community if the deal is…
Read MoreICER seeks input on value asssessment methodology update
There is a growing concernthat untested new treatments and drugs are driving up the cost of health care. Consumers and payers don’t have enough trusted sources to evaluate the value of costly, new interventions – whether they are worth what they charge. The Institute for Clinical and Economic Research (ICER), a leading and trusted source…
Read MoreCT second lowest in US in premature deaths, but also among most costly states
Second only to New Hampshire among states, Connecticut residents are avoiding premature deaths preventable with better health care. However, no Connecticut community ranked in the top 10% across health indicators in the Commonwealth Fund’s 2016 Local Health System Scorecard. While we do very well in Healthy Lives measures, we have a great deal of work…
Read MoreHealth Care Cabinet starts work on recommendations for reform
Yesterday the Health Care Cabinet gave consultants initial feedback on their “straw man” recommendations to improve health care and control costs in CT. The Cabinet has spent the last several months exploring leading state reforms preparing for our December report to the General Assembly. Members expressed concerns about the proposed consolidation of all state health…
Read MoreCommunity voices fears about proposed YNHH acquisition of L&M
OHCA’s public hearing about Yale-New Haven Health System’s plans to buy Lawrence & Memorial Monday in New London ran over 6 hours and had to be continued to later this month to finish. Public comment was split between those favoring the deal and others with concerns. A coalition of community groups, labor and consumer advocates,…
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