Posts by Ellen Andrews
CT 42nd among states in adult obesity rates
CT is doing better than 41 other states in adult obesity rates for last year, according to new CDC numbers. We are tied with Nevada and New York. However even at that level, one in four CT adults (24.5%) is obese, and that rate is up from 18% a decade earlier. A recent IOM report…
Read MoreFour CT hospitals earn highest Medicare readmission penalty
Starting in October, Medicare will begin reducing reimbursements to Griffin Hospital, St. Raphael’s, Masonic Home and Hospital, and Midstate Medical Center by 1% because of high patient readmission rates. Eight CT hospitals – Hartford, Hebrew Home and Hospital, Manchester, Middlesex, Rockville, Sharon, Backus and Windham hospitals – will have no deductions to their Medicare payments…
Read MoreUpdated CT Health Policy 101
Our CT Health Basics primer/training module for the CT Health Policy Project is updated. Check www.cthealthbook.org regularly for other resource updates.
Read MoreHow will 137,000 CT residents get their MLR rebate money?
Today’s CT Post highlights some of the confusion about the insurance rebates mandated by the Affordable Care Act from health plans that didn’t spend at least 80% of premiums on health care and quality. This month 137,452 state residents should get refunds averaging $168 but how they get the money varies. If consumers bought an…
Read MoreComptroller’s Virtual Roundtable – getting men into the doctor’s office
Comptroller Kevin Lembo explores the reluctance of men to access preventive care in his latest Virtual Roundtable. The question posed — If you’re a man reluctant to go to the doctor, what would finally convince you to go? If there’s a man in your life reluctant to go to the doctor, have you successfully convinced…
Read MoreHealth cost moderation predated recession; holds hope for future
A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that recent “curve bending” reductions in health spending growth started before the recession. Economists had suggested that the recent moderations in health costs were simply a result of the overall economic downturn and would skyrocket again as the economy picks up. But better adjusted…
Read MoreCT Health Reform by the Numbers
At least 60% of CT’s newly insured under national health reform will be coming into our Medicaid program, according to expert estimates. 40,000 to 60,000 of those are currently eligible but not enrolled. Nationally Medicaid is expected to make up only one third of new coverage. Even with reform, up to 197,000 CT residents will…
Read MoreAugust web quiz – CT local health system performance
Test your knowledge about CT local health system performance. Take the August CT Health Policy Webquiz.
Read More48% of CT Medicaid highest prescribing physicians get drug company perks
According to the CT Health I-Team, the highest prescribing doctors in CT for many medications receive large payments for speaking fees and travel from the companies that manufacture those same medications. Forty of the 108 physicians in CT’s Medicaid program with the highest psychotropic and pain medication prescribing rates get perks from the companies that…
Read MoreAugust CT Health Reform Dashboard – 13.7% progress
This month CT is again making progress toward health reform. We are now 13.7% of the way toward health reform. Unfortunately we are up only slightly from last month’s 13.2% performance. At this rate, it will take over fourteen years to fully implement reform, but January 1, 2014 is only a year and a half…
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