drugs
One in ten CT adults forgo needed medical care due to cost, HR-1 likely to increase that rate
In 2024, 9.9% of adults in Connecticut missed needed care because of cost in 2024, according to an analysis of SHADAC data. That’s better than the US average at 12.4%. Both had been dropping as the number of uninsured fell but began rising again after COVID. Medical inflation has grown faster than general inflation since…
Read MoreNebraska starts Medicaid work requirements tomorrow — Lessons for CT
Download this article Advocates, providers, and Medicaid agencies are watching Nebraska this week as they launch work requirements in their Medicaid program. States have been working to implement the complex, federally mandated requirements passed last summer in HR-1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Previous efforts in Arkansas and Georgia failed badly. Unfortunately, while the…
Read MoreCTNJ: To make healthcare affordable, break up OHS
Candidates are hearing a lot about affordability, in Connecticut and across the country. Rising healthcare costs are a big part of the problem, erasing any wage increases. Connecticut is among the most expensive states for health insurance premiums, and they’re rising fast. Our state Office of Health Strategy is tasked with finding solutions that lower…
Read MorePrivate Insurance chapter in CT Healthcare Explained updated
We’ve updated the Private Insurance chapter of CT Healthcare Explained. The update was prompted by new numbers and new topics, including level-funded plans, Connecticut private insurance prices compared to Medicare, and wide hospital price variation. CT Healthcare Explained is our explainer website cutting through the complexities of our state’s healthcare system. Like the other 17…
Read MoreMedicare chapter in CT Healthcare Explained updated
We’ve made another massive update to CT Healthcare Explained – this time to the Medicare chapter. The update was prompted by new numbers and new research, especially about Medicare Advantage plans. We also included the changes to the program required by the budget bill passed by Congress and the Trump administration this month. CT Healthcare…
Read MoreMedicaid chapter in CT Healthcare Explained updated
We’ve made a massive update to the Medicaid chapter of CT Healthcare Explained. The update was prompted by new numbers and updated performance. We also included the significant changes to the program required by the budget bill passed by Congress and the Trump administration this month. We also included a description of Connecticut’s decision not…
Read MoreAnalysis: CT is a National Leader in Fight to Control Drug Costs
This year, Connecticut passed meaningful laws to control stubbornly-high prescription drug prices. According to the Office of Health Strategy, prescription drugs are among the top three drivers of Connecticut’s unaffordable healthcare costs, across Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance. States don’t have the powerful levers that federal policymakers could access, and federal law can be a…
Read MoreCT drops five notches in health system performance ranking
Connecticut ranks 11th among states according to the Commonwealth Fund’s 2025 Scorecard on State Health System Performance report. While we’re still ahead of 39 states, we fell from 6th place in the 2023 report. The problems touch the cost of care, no surprise, but also utilization/access and quality. The cost of care gets a lot…
Read MoreFederal changes are coming into view – it’s not good, but there is hope
It’s hard to keep up with the updates about the potential impact of Congressional healthcare proposals. Just when there is a glimmer of light, it gets worse. I won’t blame anyone for not reading any further. For those of us who can’t look away, here are two new analyses of note and two glimmers of…
Read MoreCT healthcare costs grew faster than ever in 2023, but Medicaid bucked the trend
Download the analysis updated 7/22/2025 This month, the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) released their three annual Healthcare Benchmark reports. The main event, the Cost Growth Benchmark report finds that healthcare costs rose by 7.8% in 2023, well above the 2.9% benchmark set by an old OHS committee based on economic indicators. This is the…
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