Health Coverage
CT Healthcare Explained — what’s next?
Hopefully, you’ve found our short Sunday Health Policy Minute emails informative and helpful. This is just the beginning of CT Healthcare Explained’s efforts to help make sense of our state’s unreasonably complex system. Hopefully, you’ve accessed the site resources including explainer videos, Basics, and Deeper Dives on the current seventeen topics. Consumers, policymakers, clinicians, students,…
Read MoreAnalysis: CT State Employee Health Plan Tied for Richest in US
Last year, Connecticut’s health plan for current state employees and their dependents covered 98% of the costs of that care, according to a new report by Georgetown’s Center on Health Insurance Reform. We are tied with Vermont for the richest state employee plan in the nation. Connecticut’s plan for state employees and dependents would qualify…
Read MoreReport estimates public coverage not available for 56,000 CT noncitizen residents next year
A new report by the Urban Institute estimates that 67% of Connecticut’s uninsured noncitizen residents won’t be eligible for Medicaid, CHIP, or health insurance exchange tax credits (AccessHealthCT) coverage next year, although they pay taxes. Most noncitizens with insurance coverage are covered through employment. Without expansions of eligibility, 56,000 Connecticut residents will remain uninsured next…
Read MoreCT low wage workers pay more but get less health benefits
Download the data Download the brief Connecticut workers with the least resources are charged more for less, when they are offered health benefits, according to a new analysis of 2021 federal Medical Expenditure Panel data. The lowest wage workers in Connecticut are less likely to be offered health benefits, are offered less generous plans, and…
Read MoreOp-Ed: HUSKY coverage for immigrants is the right, and the smart, thing to do
Immigrants, in Connecticut and across the US, are the most likely population to be uninsured. These are our workers, neighbors, and taxpayers. We’re all safer, healthier, and richer when everyone is covered. It the right thing to do for them, but if that’s not enough, it’s also the right thing to do for all of…
Read MoreOp-Ed: Things to like in the Governor’s budget proposal
This is new for me and I may be alone, but I found a lot to like in the Governor’s budget. This fall the administration must have been listening to complaints about their disappointing healthcare record. Their new budget proposal starts to turn that around, tackling the drivers of soaring healthcare costs – prices for…
Read MoreAnalysis: Life Saving Innovation at Alarming Prices
We do scientific innovation very well. New therapies — from anesthesia in 1850, antibiotics in 1928, organ transplants in 1960, to COVID vaccines now — are improving our lives and extending life expectancy. However, healthcare costs now consume 20% of our economy, and we aren’t getting our money’s worth. Complicating the issue, Pharma’s extreme drug…
Read MoreBarriers to Fair Access Report prompts insurers to improve access to 11 drugs
There’s a lot of very appropriate focus on the unfairness of unwarranted drug prices. But an equally important key to patients accessing those drugs is the fairness of insurance policies. To keep premiums affordable, insurers must balance, even encourage, appropriate to access care, while deterring overtreatment and excessive prices. ICER, the nation’s leading value assessment…
Read MoreLow or no cost health insurance open enrollment ends soon
Connecticut residents have until next Sunday, January 15th to sign up for health insurance through Access Health CT. About 100,000 Connecticut residents get their health insurance through Access Health CT and 70% get financial assistance to afford coverage. Two thirds of uninsured Americans qualify for free or subsidized coverage; they just haven’t signed up. Free…
Read MoreUpdated Advocacy Toolbox: How to make a difference, where to start, and how to get there
Just in time for the legislative session starting today, we’ve updated our CT Health Policy Advocacy Toolbox to help with your advocacy to make healthcare better in Connecticut. (Actually, we update it every month.) Healthcare policymaking in CT can be complex and frustrating. But you’re not alone and there is help. The comprehensive site covers…
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