ACOs
CT hospital ED wait times are 4th highest among states, Patient “boarding” to blame
At 191 minutes, the average (median) wait time at Connecticut’s hospital emergency departments (EDs) was tied with New York for 4th worst among states. Maryland was the highest at 247 minutes. The data from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) covers April 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025. According to CT Public…
Read MoreNew tool to compare CT healthcare prices
Medcompare collects publicly available hospital price transparency data and converts it into a searchable format. The site compares US cash/self-pay hospital prices for 8,967 procedures in 31 categories across 29 hospitals in Connecticut. Prices for the same service vary significantly between Connecticut hospitals. Uninsured and self-pay patients can save hundreds to thousands of dollars by…
Read MoreAnalysis: A Bad Deal for Connecticut Just Got Worse
In 2024 Connecticut signed up for AHEAD, a problematic health reform plan promoted by the Biden administration to start in January 2028. Very few people in Connecticut have heard of it, including many people who work in healthcare, but it will have a massive impact on our state’s health. Read more
Read MoreCTNJ: Advice to CT’s next Medicaid Director
Welcome. You’re taking on a big job at a difficult time. Your program covers healthcare for one in five state residents and is about a quarter of the state budget. But we’re in a very good place and you’ll have lots of help. The good news first. Read more
Read MoreCT healthcare costs grew faster than ever in 2023, but Medicaid bucked the trend
Download the analysis updated 7/22/2025 This month, the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) released their three annual Healthcare Benchmark reports. The main event, the Cost Growth Benchmark report finds that healthcare costs rose by 7.8% in 2023, well above the 2.9% benchmark set by an old OHS committee based on economic indicators. This is the…
Read MoreReform section updated in CT Healthcare Explained
We’ve updated the Reform chapter of CT Healthcare Explained, our explainer website cutting through the complexities of our state’s healthcare system. Like the other 17 topic sections, Reform includes a Basics summary and a much longer Deeper Dive into the issue. In the left hand box, you can skip to your specific question. There is…
Read MoreCTNJ Analysis: It’s Time To End HUSKY’s ‘Value-Based’ Medicaid Program
Connecticut’s Person-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Plus program has been troubled from its start in 2017, and it’s time to go in a new direction. Read more
Read MoreAnalysis: Hartford HealthCare Settlement with St. Francis Still Leaves Two Important Class Action Suits Active
CT News Junkie reports that St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center has reached a settlement with Hartford HealthCare in their lawsuit alleging unfair business practices. It’s good that St. Francis’s complaints as a competitor have been addressed, but the concerns of consumers and payers are still outstanding in two class action lawsuits against Hartford HealthCare.…
Read MoreAnalysis: Despite the name, value is not the solution for raging healthcare costs
The murder of a United health executive has intensified very strong reactions to America’s broken healthcare system. Unfortunately, too many opportunists are using this tragedy to push a tired, failed agenda – value-based care and its corollary, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Read more
Read MoreWandering around in OHS’s databases – lots to learn and a surprise
Our state Office of Health Strategy has several impressive portals and dashboards to explore their trove of data and other information. They include healthcare affordability, ED visits, quality ratings, facility plans, self-sufficiency tools, hospital finances, prescription drug costs, and Race, ethnicity and language data. Visitors can sort the data by service, payer, age, gender, and…
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