Posts by Ellen Andrews
More doctors participating in Medicaid
The Hartford Business Journal is reporting on the increase in primary care providers caring for Medicaid consumers. The number of Medicaid primary care providers has more than doubled in the last two years. This is critically important as an estimated 150,000 more state residents will qualify for Medicaid coverage under the ACA. The article credits…
Read MoreBook Club — Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie or Die
A fascinating, sort of scary, book about the power of big data and new analytics to predict human behavior, Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie or Die is the latest addition to the CT Health Policy Project Book Club. In 2012 there was a lot of news about the revelation…
Read MoreCT’s final SIM plan: Consumer advocates have questions
Connecticut’s executive branch policymakers have finished theState Innovation Model (SIM) plan to fundamentally transform our state’s fragmented health care system – both how care is delivered by doctors, hospitals and other providers, and how it is paid for. SIM is meant tocover at least three million state residents – Medicare, Medicaid, employer benefits and private…
Read MoreAnnapolis CSG/ERC state visit – lots of opinions on the insurance exchange’s problems, Medicare hospital waiver, and SIM
It’s been a fascinating CSG/ERC state capitol visit in Annapolis over the last two days. In meetings with policymakers I’ve heard a range of opinions and emotions on MD’s insurance exchange – from optimism that eventually it will start working to calls to scrap it and revert to the federal exchange. By all accounts, the…
Read MoreAges of CT insurance exchange consumers raising concerns
Board members of Access Health CT are now raising concerns about the age profile of the health insurance exchange’s consumers. Over one third (36%) of people buying insurance there are over age 55, but make up only 12.5% of CT’s total population and 7.7% of the uninsured. In contrast, young adults ages 18 to 34…
Read MoreUpdated website and expanded reach for comparative effectiveness org – ICER
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has a new website with decision aids for consumers and doctors, comparative value analyses of new treatments, and regional roundtables to translate that research into policy. Adding the CA Technology Assessment Forum to their CEPAC work in New England allows millions more people to benefit.
Read MoreCT health insurance exchange update – enrollees trend older, Anthem billing problems, and good stories of coverage
Customers trying to buy coverage on Access Health CT, our state’s health insurance exchange, from Anthem are having trouble paying their bill to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s January 1st coverage mandate. Anthem is the most popular choice with 25,000 enrollees so far. Many people have paid their bill but have not been set…
Read MoreHealth equity lectures
The Bioscience CT Health Disparities Institute at UConn Health Center is sponsoring a series of lectures this year on Health Disparities through the lens of Research, Capacity Building, Outreach & Engagement and Policy. The first on January 30th, features Dr. Chau Trinh-Shevrin, on Advancing Health Equity through the Intersection of Social Determinants and Community-Engaged Approaches.…
Read MoreMedicaid Council update – very good news on PCMHs
At today’s Medicaid Council meeting we heard an impressive presentation by DSS and CHNCT, Medicaid’s administrative services organization, about the success of person-centered medical homes (PCMHs) in CT’s program. At the end of the year 211,206 Medicaid consumers were being cared for in a PCMH – about one in three CT Medicaid recipients. 65% of…
Read MoreNavigators and assisters conference highlights challenges and solutions
Today’s AccessHealthCT conference for outreach workers focused on tools for engaging CT’s uninsured. In addition to public officials and foundation supporters, the conference included helpful wisdom from navigators in the field. Speakers shared real world challenges (technology, coordination, information gaps), but also solutions and best practices (flyers in energy assistance letters and food bank bags,…
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