Posts by Ellen Andrews
Independent advocates seek answers about Medicaid experiment
The Medicaid Study Group, a collaboration of CT independent consumer advocates, sent a list of critical questions about PCMH+ to DSS yesterday. PCMH+ is Medicaid’s controversial new payment experiment affecting over 100,000 people and scheduled for a massive expansion next year. Advocates have submitted questions in writing because we have not been able to ask questions…
Read MoreState CHIP program that covers 17,331 CT children at risk without federal action
MACPAC estimates that, without federal extension of funding for the CHIP program, CT will run out of funds in February. Our state CHIP program, also called HUSKY Part B, provided subsidized coverage 17,133 children as of August 1st. Created by Congress in 1997, the CHIP program has provided coverage to 3.67 million children across the…
Read MoreCT News Junkie Op-Ed: Is overtreatment really a thing?
There is a growing consensus in health policy circles that overtreatment is the source of all problems in our health care system. Like most common beliefs, there is some truth to it. For example, clinical research is clear that stents inserted into the arteries of people not having a heart attack do nothing to prevent…
Read MoreSeptember CT Health Reform Dashboard – little changing, and that’s not good
CT’s September Health Reform Dashboard update is about the same as last month. Medicaid policy development and implementation is still mired in mistrust, rushing ahead without data, quality problems, and a lack of transparency while state officials refuse to answer questions. Thankfully physicians and others are taking the reins and building a badly needed health…
Read MoreFrom the Book Club: An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back
This latest addition to the CT Health Policy Project Book Club should be required reading for everyone. I’ve been a health policy analyst for over twenty years and I learned something new on every page. I couldn’t read it in one shot – I kept throwing it down in disgust. The author is a former…
Read MoreCMS finalizes important patient-friendly informed consent payment proposal
CMS has finalized their proposed Medicare rule (regulation) for how hospitals are paid that includes a new measure assessing the quality of hospital informed consent documents given to patients before elective procedures. (The relevant section, Potential Inclusion of the Quality of Informed Consent Documents for Hospital-Performed, Elective Procedures Measure starts hereon p. 373 of the…
Read MoreSurvey of state legislators’ values for health reform finds strong differences by party but some encouraging overlap
Both Democratic and Republican state legislators from across the US agree on the need to control health care costs, according to a new survey published in the American Journal of Public Health. However, other top priorities between the parties differ strongly. Republicans prioritized smaller government along with reducing costs while Democrats prioritize improving health equity…
Read MoreDPH launches website comparing CT quality and cost of hospital and nursing home care
Last week, CT’s Department of Public Health unveiled MONAHRQ, a web tool allowing consumers and other health care decision-makers to compare the quality, outcomes, utilization and costs of health care in our state. For example, Only three of CT’s 24 general hospitals are above average in patient ratings – Greenwich, Middlesex and Milford. Sadly, most…
Read MoreState policymakers hear how bioscience is generating jobs with health innovation
The growing Bioscience industry holds great potential to improve the region’s economy and health , according to speakers at “Bioscience Initiatives: Improving Health and Growing the Economy” at this week’s CSG-ERC Annual Meeting in CT. Panelists included Mostafa Analoui, PhD, Executive Director, UConn Venture Development, Mike Hyde, Vice President, External Affairs, The Jackson Laboratory, and…
Read MoreState health policymakers get the latest from DC and options to respond
At this week’s CSG-ERC Annual Meeting in CT, state policymakers from across the Northeast got updates from experts on the federal health care landscape, state options to adapt. CT’s Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman pulled it all together describing CT’s progress toward health reform. Mitchell Stein gave a detailed summary of federal activity including CHIP reauthorization…
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