Wandering around in OHS’s databases – lots to learn and a surprise

Our state Office of Health Strategy has several impressive portals and dashboards to explore their trove of data and other information. They include healthcare affordability, ED visits, quality ratings, facility plans, self-sufficiency tools, hospital finances, prescription drug costs, and Race, ethnicity and language data. Visitors can sort the data by service, payer, age, gender, and…

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ICER’s 4th annual report finds progress in fair access to prescription drugs

Over the last four years, barriers facing patients getting access to cost effective drugs in commercial plans and the Veteran’s Administration have gotten better, according to ICER’s fourth annual Barriers to Fair Access report. The authors compare plan policies, including cost sharing, clinical eligibility, step therapy and provider restrictions, to independent standards for fair access…

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Report finds growing number of drug prices rising without merit

Half of the ten fastest-rising drug prices without any evidence of improved value last year, according to the latest report from ICER. This is the highest percentage of  unsupported prescription drug prices since ICER began this report in 2019. The increased prices rose far faster than inflation for the rest of the economy. Just the…

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Analysis: DSS Study Suggests MCOs don’t Make Sense for HUSKY

Last Friday, the state released a consultants’ report exploring the Governor’s controversial plan to bring private insurers back to run Medicaid in Connecticut. The report’s authors agree with advocates that there is no evidence that MCOs control costs or improve quality or access to care. They also agree that HUSKY, our state Medicaid program, is…

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Analysis: The uninsured are still with us

September used to be a key month for policy wonks. We all eagerly awaited new Census numbers of the uninsured. But since passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there is less attention to the uninsured. There is a sense that we are past the problem of people without coverage. But the latest Census numbers…

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Analysis: Medicare’s drug price negotiation – Why it’s a big deal

For the first time, Medicare has negotiated prices with pharmaceutical companies. Prescription drug costs are a significant driver of rising healthcare costs in Connecticut, rising 7.7%  from 2021 to 2022, more than any other category. Medicare covers one in five Connecticut residents, mainly seniors and people with disabilities, and is the biggest purchaser of drugs…

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Book Club: Random Acts of Medicine

Deliberately randomized experiments in medicine and health policy are usually not possible, or even moral. But with increasingly available data and random changes in circumstances, natural experiments can teach us a great deal about what works and what doesn’t. Random events have a huge impact on our health, more than we’d like to acknowledge. Random…

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CT Healthcare Explained is updating

We are taking on the massive project of updating CT Healthcare Explained. We just finished the Workforce chapter, including updated numbers and wages for the broad range of people who provide healthcare. We’ve included trends, shortages, disparities, and changes happening and recommendations for improvement. We updated Healthcare Costs last month. Hospitals are next. Connecticut’s healthcare…

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CT Mirror Viewpoint: Husky MCOs would harm access to mental health care

A new CT Mirror Viewpoint from a HUSKY mental health provider describes why the Governor’s idea to bring managed care back would drive more providers from the program. Demand for mental health care has never been higher and is a serious concern for HUSKY. Donna Nicolino is a trauma specialist participating in both Connecticut’s non-MCO…

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Book Club: Risky Business—Why Insurance Markets Fail And What to Do About It

I thought I knew a lot about how insurance markets work (and don’t), but I learned more than I expected from Risky Business—Why Insurance Markets Fail And What to Do About It by Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein, and Ray Fishman. Adverse selection (commonly called cherry picking) is a double-edged problem. I knew about insurers’ schemes…

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