conflict of interest
CTNJ: 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 MoreGovernor proposes breaking up OHS
In his budget proposal today, Governor Lamont wisely proposed delegating the many functions under the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) to other state agencies. His goal is “to ensure a comprehensive and cohesive vision for healthcare.” Setting a statewide strategy to improve value in Connecticut’s complex and costly healthcare landscape takes focus and deep data…
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: 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 MoreMore questions and answers on DSS’s plan for HUSKY maternity bundles
Read the new questions and answers DSS is planning to move Medicaid payments for maternity services from the current fee-for-service arrangement to a per-person bundled payment. They will also expand services to include doula and lactation supports. However, advocates have asked questions and raised concerns about unintended consequences when providers make more money by reducing…
Read MoreFormer Medicaid Official shares troubled MCO history
Download the comments In comments to DSS for their landscape study, former Medicaid official Steve Colangelo warns against returning the program to MCOs. He worked in the program before and after the MCOs left in 2012. He outlines the problems that plagued the program and DSS staff under the MCO model. He details how the…
Read MoreSign on letter critical of biased consultants for HUSKY MCO study
On Friday, thirty-five organizations, advocates, and HUSKY members sent a letter to Governor Lamont raising concerns about the choice of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips as consultants to conduct the Medicaid survey and make recommendations. Concerns center on Manatt’s record of support for toward returning Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) in Medicaid programs. That’s a record number…
Read MoreHUSKY evaluation call is broad; Includes MCOs but is not biased
Updated August 15, 2024 with Questions and Answers to DSS Last month, DSS released their promised request for quotes (RFQ) from current contractors to evaluate Connecticut’s Medicaid program. (Questions from potential RFQ applicants and DSS’s answers are here.) The RFQ includes important broad priorities that are shared by advocates and other stakeholders, including an evidence basis…
Read MoreBook Club: Random Acts of Medicine
Deliberately randomized experiments in medicine and health policy are usually not possible, or even moral. But with increasingly available data and random changes in circumstances, natural experiments can teach us a great deal about what works and what doesn’t. Random events have a huge impact on our health, more than we’d like to acknowledge. Random…
Read MoreAnalysis: Newest Hartford Healthcare lawsuit adds a critical twist
Yet another lawsuit against Hartford Healthcare (HHC) may seem obscure and limited to healthcare, but it goes much further. There is overwhelming evidence that prices for care at huge health systems like HHC are driving up healthcare prices for private health plans in Connecticut and it’s getting worse. The third anti-trust lawsuit against HHC outlines…
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