CT Health Reform
Health Care Cabinet finalizes controversial report recommendations for reform with tight votes
At yesterday’s meeting, the Health Care Cabinet took a final vote on controversialrecommendations to reform our state’s health system. The main concern that garnered the most disagreement and public input was a recommendation to place all Medicaid and state employees in a downside risk payment model within four years. While the measure still passed, the…
Read MoreCT Health Reform Dashboard responds to eroding accountability in hospital oversight and Medicaid consumer rights
This month’s Health Reform Dashboardupdate once again reflects more attempts to unravel progress in CT. Medicaid leads the concerns with the success of new ACOs at the last minute in blowing up federally required consumer notices that were carefully negotiated over months, so that consumers will need a college education to understand the risks of…
Read MoreHealthcare Cabinet gets an earful on reform proposals
At today’s public hearing, the Cabinet got a lot of thanks for the hard work, but not a lot of support for the proposals. Unfortunately the meeting was poorly attended, especially by some of the strongest proponents of downside risk. Speakers included providers, advocates, a SIM official, a foundation, and business representatives. Many spoke against…
Read MoreTroubling Cabinet vote for downside risk on Medicaid and state employees, but there will be a public hearing
In a 13 to 4 vote Tuesday, the Health Care Cabinet voted to impose the controversial downside risk payment model on CT’s Medicaid and state employee plans. DSS, OPM, DPH and the only consumer advocate at the meeting all voted against the option (votes are listed below). Deep concerns have been raised about downside…
Read MoreCT Health Reform Dashboard responds to efforts to undermine constructive policies
This month’s Health Reform Dashboardupdate reflects more attempts to unravel progress in CT. Medicaid leads the concerns with broken promises on downside risk and attempts to weaken critical consumer notices about shifting provider incentives, potential underservice, and how to protect yourself. OHCA’s approval of YNHH’s acquisition of L&M health system will require a lot…
Read MoreMedicaid Council weighs in on Health Care Cabinet reform proposal
Last week’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on the controversial Strawman proposal for reforming CT’s health care system and the implications for Medicaid. We reviewed continuing progress in the program improving quality and access while controlling costs. State spending on the program is down, despite strong enrollment growth, and per person costs are stable saving the…
Read MoreHealth Care Cabinet continues to debate reform plan; Medicaid commitment on downside risk reversed
Yesterday’s Health Care Cabinet meeting started with a statement by the Lieutenant Governor stating that the commitment made last year not to implement downside risk in Medicaid was time-limited to end with the state’s SIM grant in 2019. However that was never conveyed to advocates and, in fact, the state made a clear commitment, without…
Read MoreDownside risk explainer and response to Strawman payment model proposal published
In response to questions, we’ve published two new documents about the most controversial part of the Health Care Cabinet’s Strawman proposal for health reform in Connecticut. To help in understanding how downside risk might work, and whether it works, in the context of other options, we’ve developed a fairly short downside_risk_explainer. To address points offered…
Read MoreCT Health Reform Dashboard – Troubling Cabinet reform proposal would move CT backward
October’s CT Health Reform Dashboardupdate reflects the controversy surrounding the Health Care Cabinet’s controversial proposal for state health reform. The current proposal would move CT back into failed payment models and would break the administration’s promise to Medicaid members. Other concerns include a vague hospital consolidation deal that leaves a lot of accountability to administrative…
Read MoreKaiser Medicaid and state marketplace implementation brief highlights CT
Three years into ACA expansions, the Kaiser Foundation has highlighted how four states, including CT, are streamlining eligibility and enrollment. Researchers used focus groups and case studies to find that eligibility and enrollment systems worked well through the expansion and while Medicaid enrollment grew quickly in the beginning, it has now stabilized. While marketplace enrollment…
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