Budget Process
Legislative Dems newest budget rejects most of Governor’s newest cuts
In the latest budget proposal for the next two years, Democrats in legislative leadership have rejected many of the Governor’s most recent cuts. The newest legislative proposal rejects the Governor’s plan to cut another 8,700 working parents off HUSKY. Because of cuts passed last year, 17, 688 working parents will lose coverage as of July…
Read MoreApprops budget restores many health and human service cuts
The budget approved by the Appropriations Committee yesterday restores many of the health and human services cuts in the Governor’s proposed budget. Long supported by advocates and financial analysts, the Appropriations Committee also proposed de-collapsing the massive Medicaid line item. The Committee’s budget separates out payments to hospitals and community health centers, giving more transparency…
Read MoreGovernor’s budget proposal – it could be way worse
Today the Governor announced his proposed budget for the coming fiscal year that starts July 1st. The very, very good news is that Medicaid is largely untouched – no new cuts to providers, no more people losing coverage, and minimal service limits (orthodontia). This is smart because current reforms in the program are working to…
Read MoreHow CT can save $1 billion
Per person costs in CT’s Medicaid program fell, actually went down, by 5.9% last year. If the rest of CT’s state budget could match that performance, we would have a $1 billion surplus. Following is my list for how we could spend it (this was fun). · Reverse the HUSKY parents cut · Reverse the…
Read MoreFate of terminated HUSKY parents troubling, implications for families staying together
At Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting we learned that 167 of the 1,215 HUSKY parents that lost coverage last year were able to buy insurance from the health insurance exchange. Unfortunately 32 former HUSKY parents initially signed up for insurance through AccessHealthCT, but later lost coverage because they didn’t pay their premiums. It is not clear…
Read More$103 million in new budget cuts Medicaid, mental health services
On Friday, the administration announced $103 million new budget cuts in response to lagging revenues. The biggest cut is $63.5 million in Medicaid, reportedly focused on hospitals. Community providers raised concerns about the impact of the cuts, including $7.4 million in behavioral health funding and $5 million from services for people with developmental disabilities,…
Read MoreBudget implementer makes significant changes
Early this morning the House passed HB-1502– the 686-page bill that describes how the state FY 2016-2018 budget passed four weeks ago is to be implemented. But the bill also makes numerous substantive changes to the original budget. In addition to tax reductions for large businesses, the bill includes the implementer language to cut coverage…
Read More20,000 to 25,000 HUSKY parents lose coverage under state budget deal
According to a CT Mirror report, the budget approved by the legislature and Governor today eliminates coverage for up to 25,000 HUSKY parents with household incomes over 150% of the federal poverty level. The deal exempts pregnant women. While tragic for those families, the Governor’s proposal would have cut more parents and pregnant women at…
Read More87-page health bill goes to Governor’s desk
The House and Senate have passed SB-811, now on it’s way to the Governor. The bill includesprice and consumer cost notices and websites to help consumers shop for services, sets some limits on facility fees charged by hospitals and outpatient providers, adds to the factors and studies required in considering hospital purchases, and limits bills…
Read MoreAppropriations Committee restores most of the Governor’s proposed health care cuts
Today the Appropriations Committee released their budget, restoring most of the deep Medicaid cuts the Governor proposed in February. The committee rejected the Governor’s proposal to cut 34,000 working parents and pregnant women from HUSKY coverage. The committee also restored funding, accounting for inevitable delays, for the innovative health neighborhoods pilots to coordinate care for…
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