CT Health Reform
SustiNet final report off to General Assembly
The SustiNet task force has sent their recommendations to the legislature. Recomendations include payment and delivery system reforms, including patient centered medical homes, and taking advantage of a federal reform opportunity to extend Medicaid eligibility to twice the poverty level for adults – saving money for CT consumers and for the state. The plan includes…
Read MoreOLR reports on major issues for 2011
The Office of Legislative Research’s annual list of issues likely to be addressed in the coming session includes: · Considering alternatives to HMOs for the troubled HUSKY, including statewide PCCM · Reconsidering last year’s budget requirement that HUSKY move from the current capitated HMO-based model to a self-insured ASO model, as is common to most…
Read MoreSustiNet Board update
The SustiNet task force met yesterday to refine their final recommendations for proposed legislative language to the General Assembly. In an earlier survey of task force and ex-officio members there was agreement that the plan should merge state employees, Medicaid members and municipal employees. However, there was disagreement about including small businesses, nonprofits and the…
Read MoreEstimated costs of SustiNet options described
Stan Dorn of the Urban Institute outlined the estimated costs of six SustiNet coverage options at yesterday’s Board meeting. Under any of the options Connecticut’s uninsured rate drops by more than half, the state budget deficit is improved, small businesses save (mainly by reducing the number of workers they cover), SustiNet grows into a significant,…
Read MoreSustiNet Board considers governance and structure recommendations
At today’s meeting the SustiNet Board considered three different structural options for the new SustiNet Plan. Options varied in whether the new SustiNet governing body will oversee or directly administer the plan, whether the SustiNet option will be a licensed state insurance product offered in the new state health insurance exchange, the relative roles of…
Read More236,400 CT residents eligible for health care tax credits in 2014
A new report by Families USA estimates that $830 million in tax credits will be coming to 236,400 middle income CT residents to help pay for health coverage. The credits are structured on a sliding scale, targeted toward those who need assistance the most. The majority of people who will benefit have incomes just over…
Read MoreCT medical home Medicare application in
The Office of State Comptroller has taken the lead in filing an application for CT to participate in a new Medicare option. The project would join the state employee plan, Medicaid, Medicare and private insurers in an exciting plan to build patient-centered medical homes for over a million state residents eventually. The Governor, DSS, the…
Read MoreWill Charter Oak survive?
An interesting story by Arielle Levin Becker at the CT Mirror asks whether Charter Oak will survive after Governor Rell leaves office. The best thing about Charter Oak is that people with pre-existing conditions are not excluded from coverage; under national health reform, that exclusion will be prohibited in all health insurance in 2014. It…
Read MoreForty seven CT employers qualify for early retiree reinsurance program
Nationally less than one in three large firms offer health benefits to retirees. Premiums and deductibles for early retirees can be four times as much as for younger workers. National health reform included $5 billion for a temporary reinsurance program to help subsidize employer-sponsored retiree coverage for early retirees over age 55 but not yet…
Read MoreDSS outlines options to move HUSKY away from capitation – or not
At yesterday’s Medicaid Care Management Oversight Council (formerly known as the Medicaid Managed Care Council), DSS outlined three policy options to restructure HUSKY’s financing. The options were a response to direction in the latest budget to move HUSKY from a fully insured, capitated system to a self-insured, ASO model; the budget included approximately $75 million…
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