Posts by Ellen Andrews
Medicaid update
Yesterday’s Medicaid Council focused on improving enrollment and quality performance in the program. From the new ConneCT Dashboard we learned that there is no longer a backlog of enrollment documents waiting to be scanned into the system, that waiting times for the call center are down from 75 to 39 minutes, but that the hours…
Read MoreHealth Care Cabinet meeting — SIM, exchange updates
Yesterday’s Cabinet meeting was lively — not sure it was productive. The insurance exchange reported on a flurry of last minute activity that significantly boosted enrollment. Final numbers will be available in a few weeks when it becomes clear how many people follow through and pay premiums, and the backlog of people in the queue…
Read MoreHealth Justice CT video contest winners announced
HealthJusticeCT has announced the winners of this year’s video challenge. The contest challenged individuals and groups to develop short, creative videos encouraging people in CT to take advantage of the ACA and enroll in health care. The three winners deserve congratulations, but all the videos were exceptional, creative and inspiring gathering over 3,000 You Tube…
Read MoreSIM comments on financial incentives, consumer surveys
SIM has started floating their proposals to implement health care reform in CT and #2in particular is troubling for consumers. One proposal offered as a financing option by SIM staff would replace advanced payments for new, effective services such as care coordination and medication management with shared savings payments. This could create unfortunate incentives to…
Read MoreHarvard Pilgrim earns license to sell insurance in CT
Yesterday Harvard Pilgrim announced that they received approval from CT’s insurance department to sell health insurance in our state, but specific plans and prices are still under review. Harvard Pilgrim, a nonprofit insurer, covers over a million lives in MA, NH and ME with plans to expand to the rest of New England. The company…
Read MoreApril CT Health Policy Webquiz: Medicaid, exchange churn in CT
Test your knowledge about churn out of public coverage in CT. Take the April CT Health Policy Webquiz.
Read MoreCTNJ Op-Ed: How is CT’s exchange really doing?
CT News Junkie is a CT treasure that policymakers, advocates and other stakeholders rely on for the latest information on the topics we need to track. CTNJ gives you the unvarnished news about what’s happening, and why. CTNJ Op-Eds offer an important platform for thoughtful commenters to give context to the news and offer their…
Read MoreMy first FDA Advisory Committee meeting – refreshing change from CT
I was recently appointed as a consumer representative to the FDA’s Anti-Infective Drug Advisory Committee and yesterday was my first meeting. It was a bit intimidating to open the Wall Street Journal that morning to see an article about our meeting. It was fascinating – I learned more new things yesterday than I did all…
Read MoreState Health assessment unveiled
DPH has been working for over a year to develop CT’s State Health Assessment and Health Improvement Plan — a comprehensive plan to identify health challenges in CT, set priorities and create an action plan to address them. The process has been collaborative, inclusive, transparent and through. The plan focused on promoting health equity, ensuring…
Read MoreUnderservice committee starts work
Yesterday’s first meeting of the MAPOC Complex Care Committee underservice workgroup was very productive. (We need a shorter name). The committee is charged with designing a framework for monitoring under service in CT’s plan for health neighborhoods to cover people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Advocates have raised concerns that a shared savings payment…
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