Posts by Ellen Andrews
Medicaid coverage for children linked to higher tax receipts by age 28
A new studyfinds that in addition to improved health and lower mortality, children who were covered by past Medicaid expansions paid more taxes by age 28. The longer they were eligible for Medicaid, the higher the tax receipts. They also had lower Earned Income Tax payments and were more likely to attend college. Interestingly, the…
Read MoreNew to the Book Club: The Health Care Handbook, 2nd edition
The Health Care Handbook is the newest addition to the CT Health Notes Book Club. The new edition of this incredibly helpful primer on the US health system is even better than the 2012 version. Written by two med students who searched for a balanced, useful, and readable source of information for students like themselves…
Read MoreSIM & CAB update
Today’s SIM steering committee meeting has been cancelled. (BTW- the Medicaid Council meeting scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed to next Friday, the 16th.) Tuesday’s SIM Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) meeting was frustrating. They were supposed to vote on an ethics resolution proposed last month, but delayed a vote yet again. (They sent it to…
Read MoreSurgical errors in CT hospitals climbed in 2013
A new analysis by C-HIT found that adverse events (serious medical errors) in CT hospitals were up significantly in 2013, more than double the year before. The greatest increases were for foreign objects left in bodies and perforations during surgery. Deaths, serious falls, serious medication errors, and surgeries on the wrong body part all increased…
Read MoreJanuary CT Health Policy Webquiz: ACO performance in CT
Test your knowledge about the quality and efficiency performance of CT’s Medicare ACOs. Take the January CT Health Policy Webquiz.
Read MoreQuestionable Hartford flu numbers
A fascinating piece from CT by the Numbers digs into why conflicting reports find over 150,000 flu cases in Hartford for one week, in a city with 125,000 residents. Bottom line: Don’t believe everything you read in an ad.
Read MoreCT health reform progress meter down again slightly to 29.5%
CT’s progress toward health reform is still stuck. The meter moved down again this month slightly to 29.5%. As usual, Medicaid accounted for most of the progress with comprehensive quality reporting, impressive long term services and supports, and transparent, collaborative payment reform planning. We love it when state agencies show all their work – even…
Read More2014 – CT Health Care Year in Review
A lot happened in health care in CT this year — a lot of promising projects but some opportunities lost as well, leaving lots of uncertainty for 2015. It’s never boring. Thankfully, health care costs held stable CT seems to be following the US trend of slowing health costs. Spending per person in Medicaid…
Read MoreNew England comparative effectiveness report on controversies in diabetes management options
A new analysis comparing treatments for Type 2 Diabetes found significant opportunities to expand use of high value options– those that are both clinically effective and cost effective. NPH insulin (intermediate-acting human insulin) is equally effective as newer insulin analogs at lowering blood glucose levels, but at one-third the cost. The prevalence and costs of…
Read MoreCT Health Notes newsletter – a view through CT health care history
To keep up on the latest in CT’s health care landscape, sign up for our (mostly) every-other-week newsletter, CT Health Notes. You can also search our archives that go back fifteen years. For a reminder of how far CT has come, our first CT Health Notes edition from January 2001 included an invitation to our…
Read More