consumer info
Advocates get no answers to questions about HUSKY experiment
Last month, a group of independent consumer advocates, the Medicaid Study Group, sent questions to DSS about the impact of PCMH Plus, their new $10.8 million experimental program of shared savings in HUSKY. Advocates have been concerned about PCMH Plus’s potential to deny needed care, raise costs in the program, and erase hard-won progress. Questions…
Read MoreAnthem keeps lion’s share of CT insurance market
The best-kept secret in CT healthcare – the Insurance Department’s Consumer Report Card on Managed Care Plans – is out again this year covering 2017. Once again, Anthem has the lion’s share of the market at 46%. ConnectiCare lost almost 55,000 members between 2016 and 2017. About two out of three insured people in Connecticut…
Read MoreCTNJ: CT uninsured rate up, especially for higher income households
New Census data on the uninsured is always a big event for policy types. This year most expected the numbers to rise, but the data had a surprise. Read more
Read MoreCT excels at getting Medicaid-eligible families enrolled
A new study finds that 96.3% of CT children eligible for HUSKY participated in the program in 2016; we are tied for seventh among states. The US average is 93.7% for all states; 94.9% for states, like CT, that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Even better, CT ranks fourth among states in enrolling…
Read MoreNo CT hospitals make US News 2018 Honor Roll
No Connecticut hospital made US News’s Best Hospitals Honor Roll or their Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll this year. Four are nationally ranked in at least one specialty or performance area – Yale-New Haven (#1 in CT), Hartford Hospital (#2), St. Francis (#3) and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. US News ranks hospitals based on patient…
Read MoreGood news – FDA committee reviewing lots more antibiotics
The best news from this week’s FDA Anti-Microbial Advisory Committee meeting was that there are a lot of meetings. A busy committee means that they have more antibiotics to review. The race against drug-resistant superbugs has reduced incentives for drug companies to develop antibiotics. These drugs cost as much to develop as others but are…
Read MoreCT one of only four states that require Medigap plans to cover members when they need it
In all but four states, including CT, seniors on Medicare can be denied Medigap coverage at anytime according to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Federal law only requires a one-time, six-month Medigap plan open enrollment period that begins when beneficiaries originally sign up for Medicare. But states can go farther to protect…
Read MoreCommittee develops care plan best practices recommendations for Medicaid
The Complex Care Committee of CT’s Medicaid Council has made recommendations to DSS for careplans in the Medicaid program. The importance of effective care plans has arisen often throughout the committee’s work diving deep into barriers to care for Medicaid members with complex health needs. Effective care plans ensure that people are driving decisions about…
Read MoreCTNJ: Advocates must inform consumers of risks when the state won’t
This week, independent advocates launched PCMHPlusFacts.org, a campaign to give HUSKY members balanced information about an experimental, new payment model expanding across the program. PCMH Plus has risks for consumers along with possible benefits, but HUSKY members aren’t aware of them or that they have the right to opt-out of the new payment model. Read more
Read MoreAdvocates launch PCMHPlusFacts.org, giving HUSKY members balanced information on the controversial new program
Today, independent consumer advocates launched a website, PCMHPlusFacts.org, to explain the facts about HUSKY’s experimental, new payment plan to run the program. The site was developed in response to the state’s erosion of federally required notices to consumers about their right to opt-out of the program. The state changed the notices at the last minute…
Read More