Health Reform
CTNJ: Healthcare questions for Connecticut’s Next Governor
How will Connecticut’s next governor fix the state’s healthcare system? It’s a big job but they will have a lot more leverage and power than many appreciate. Read more
Read MoreACA Medicaid expansion benefits to CT include fewer uninsured, lower ED use, access to behavioral healthcare
A new analysis by the CT Health Foundation outlines the “unqualified success” of CT’s HUSKY expansion. In 2010 CT was the first state to exercise the Affordable Care Act option to expand Medicaid to low income, childless adults, labelling the new population HUSKY Part D. The expansion was largely responsible for cutting CT’s uninsured rate…
Read MoreState Scorecard finds CT does fairly well, but poorly in Avoidable Hospital Use and Cost
The latest Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard finds CT’s performance across our health system ninth among states, unchanged from last year. While good, we can do much better given our rankings in personal income, education and overall high health status. We are 32nd among states in Avoidable Hospital Use and Costs, down by three from last…
Read MoreCT News Junkie: What does it take to stop repeating a bad idea?
Albert Einstein believed the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result. Unfortunately, Connecticut policymakers haven’t learned this lesson. Provider financial risk is a bad idea that has failed both in our state and nationally. Read more
Read MoreThirty-one independent consumer advocates share concerns with SIM’s latest push for capitation
Despite the historic failures of capitation in Connecticut and beyond, our state’s SIM health planning office is continuing the drumbeat to re-impose the risky system across our state, this time for primary care. In Primary Care Payment Reform: Unlocking the Potential of Primary Care, the SIM office is proposing set payments for primary care providers…
Read MorePresident’s plan to end cost sharing payments would cost CT plans $7 million this year
An analysis by Avalere Health estimates that health plans in CT’s insurance exchange, Access Health CT, would lose $7 million in reimbursements this year unless Congress acts to restore payments. Nationally, plans stand to lose over $1 billion this year. Under the Affordable Care Act, low to moderate income Americans purchasing exchange coverage are protected…
Read MoreState policymakers hear how bioscience is generating jobs with health innovation
The growing Bioscience industry holds great potential to improve the region’s economy and health , according to speakers at “Bioscience Initiatives: Improving Health and Growing the Economy” at this week’s CSG-ERC Annual Meeting in CT. Panelists included Mostafa Analoui, PhD, Executive Director, UConn Venture Development, Mike Hyde, Vice President, External Affairs, The Jackson Laboratory, and…
Read MoreState health policymakers get the latest from DC and options to respond
At this week’s CSG-ERC Annual Meeting in CT, state policymakers from across the Northeast got updates from experts on the federal health care landscape, state options to adapt. CT’s Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman pulled it all together describing CT’s progress toward health reform. Mitchell Stein gave a detailed summary of federal activity including CHIP reauthorization…
Read MoreSen. Blumenthal holding fifth hearing on ACA replacement bills
Friday at 2pm Senator Blumenthal will convene an emergency field hearing to collect input from Connecticut residents on current proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. This is the Senator’s fifth hearing on the issue. The latest Senate version of the bill from Republican leaders was published today. The hearing will be held…
Read MoreSen. Blumenthal holds third hearing on Senate ACA repeal bill
In response to public concerns, Sen. Richard Blumenthal will hold a third emergency field hearing on the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act tomorrow, June 30th 10:00 to 11:30 am at the Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St. Earlier this week, CBO reported that the bill would make 22 million more Americans uninsured and cost state…
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