consumer info
Fact Check: Does OHS’s Primary Care Roadmap include capitation? Yes, 31 times
In the Insurance Committee’s March 1st public hearing on HB-5042, advocates stated that the Office of Health Strategy’s Primary Care Roadmap plan, authorized in the bill, includes capitation as the payment model. Primary care capitation has failed in Medicare despite significant investment and multiple trials. Advocates are concerned that, if implemented, the Roadmap would divert…
Read MoreInsurance committee to hear bill to mitigate consolidation and lower healthcare costs
Download our testimony One of the main drivers of Connecticut’s rising healthcare costs is consolidation in the healthcare market, making health coverage increasingly unaffordable for consumers, employers, and businesses. Next Thursday, March 14th, the insurance committee will hold a public hearing on SB-416, An Act Promoting Competition in Contracts Between Health Carriers and Health Care…
Read MoreNew tool finds all CT health systems’ commercial prices are far higher than needed to cover expenses
According to a new tool, Connecticut hospitals would have needed commercial rates equal to 135% of Medicare levels in 2020 to cover their expenses, much higher than the US average of 114%. However, every health system in Connecticut charged well above that level, far more than needed to cover expenses. The National Academy for State…
Read MoreCTNJ op-ed: Children deserve healthcare, regardless of immigration status
Last year, Connecticut policymakers made the smart and moral decision to provide HUSKY coverage to children from low-income families through age eight, regardless of immigration status, starting next year. It’s the right thing to do. It makes sense for the children and their families, as well as the rest of us. It’s a good start,…
Read MoreTestimony supporting Governor’s drug price cap and opposing OHS primary care plan
The Insurance and Real Estate Committee is hearing today the Governor’s healthcare bills. Areas of disagreement include a proposal to limit how much drug prices can rise and the Office of Health Strategy’s (OHS) plans to cap the growth of overall healthcare spending while doubling spending on primary care. Among non-state agencies, fifteen people and…
Read MoreCTNJ op-ed: Class action against Hartford Healthcare changes the landscape
A new lawsuit filed last week alleges that Hartford Healthcare is manipulating the healthcare market to drive out competition and raise prices for their services, despite their lower quality. The class action suit, brought by six brave Connecticut residents, highlights the harm done to all of us. Ultimately, consumers pay all the bills through our…
Read MoreCTNJ Op-ED: How much do CT hospitals spend on administration? No one knows
There’s a growing consensus that hospital prices are the main driver of rising healthcare costs and insurance premiums in Connecticut. The research lays the blame on consolidation in the market. Read more
Read MoreBook Club: The Premonition — A Pandemic Story
Michael Lewis’s latest book, The Premonition – A Pandemic Story, dives deep into an untold story of how COVID crept up on the US healthcare system, particularly the state and federal agencies that were supposed to be watching and to know what to do. It’s a story of bureaucrats playing it safe while sacrificing our…
Read MoreYale Policy Institute report on CT’s local public health infrastructure and systems
COVID crystalized the importance of a strong local public health system across our state and the nation. In their latest report, student researchers from the Public Health Center of the Yale Policy Institute assessed Connecticut’s local public health system in the context of the COVID pandemic using Public Health 3.0, the latest national standards. The…
Read MoreBook Club — How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter about Visual Information
Data visualization is trendy for a reason. How Charts Lie by Alberto Cairo describes how well-designed charts and graphs can help make numbers clear, especially as competition for readers’ attention grows. But badly designed charts can confuse or even lie to the reader. Healthcare is more confusing than most areas so deceptive charts are more…
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