Consultants hired to study options for CT to improve value in health care purchasing

Bailit Health has been hired to work with the Healthcare Cabinet for a study to identify successful practices in other states and make recommendations to the General Assembly by Dec. 1st. Researchers will collect successful cost containment practices from other states and identify factors that are driving health care cost growth in CT.  Recommendations will…

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CT health reform progress meter not changed much

This month’s CT health reform progress meter ticked down very slightly this month, continuing its hover around the same 25% mark. Medicaid redesign planning is still on track, working collaboratively with all voices at the table. More Medicaid quality data confirms the program’s improvements including exciting news on health equity for high-cost, high-need members. However…

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Advocates urge SIM not to disrupt successful Medicaid PCMH program

In a letter to SIM steering committee members, the Medicaid Study Group urged support for DSS’s decision to build Medicaid reforms on the successful person-centered medical home program. Specifically the Group applauded DSS’s decision to only include members served by certified PCMHs in the new, untested shared savings model being planned for Medicaid. The Medicaid…

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Advocates offer comment on MQISSP design proposals to date

As requested, the Medicaid Study Group has drafted comments to DSS on current design proposals for MQISSP, CT’s Medicaid reform plan. The Medicaid Study Group, with over twenty independent consumer advocates, has taken a deep dive into the health reform literature and the experience of Medicaid reforms in other states, and providing feedback and recommendations…

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CT health reform progress meter ticks up slightly

December’s CT health reform progress meter ticked up very slightly this month. Medicaid redesign planning is still on track, working collaboratively with all voices at the table. New Medicaid quality data confirms the program’s improvements and the number of person-centered medical homes in the program passed 100. However that good news was balanced by troubling…

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Op-Ed — CT Medicaid: Don’t Mess With What’s Working

In an unusual twist, two prominent legal aide attorneys highlight Medicaid’s exceptional performance in improving quality, expanding access to care and controlling costs in a New Haven Register op-ed yesterday. CT’s Medicaid program is remarkable in actually lowering the cost of care for members, while improving the care they receive.  Legal aid’s role is not…

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Fate 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…

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CT health reform progress up slightly this month

CT’s progress toward health reform inched up this month to 25.7%, ending a four month decline. New Medicaid numbers confirmed that per person costs continue to decline, long after the initial savings from switching away from capitated insurers. The continued progress suggests that structural changes like patient-centered medical homes, quality incentives and intensive care management…

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