Health Reform
New Orleans health care – five years after Katrina
Yesterday, the NASHP conference in New Orleans started with a plenary session on the state of health care in the city. Things were not great before Katrina – the city was at the bottom of national list for health care access and outcomes. 80% of the housing stock was lost; health care institutions were devastated.…
Read MoreNational health reform standards may not cover college health plans
The Wall Street Journal raises the question of whether the notoriously inadequate health plans offered to college students will be covered under national health reform regulations. While these plans are generally inexpensive they typically include caps on coverage and would not meet new standards on how much of premiums must be spent on health care.…
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 MoreCSG/ERC meeting slides online
Health panel slides from last week’s CSG/ERC annual meeting in Maine are online. They include Sen. Richard Moore (MA) and Trish Riley/Karynlee Harrington (ME, Dirigo) on payment reform, Lisa Letourneau (ME Quality Counts) on patient-centered medical homes, and Alan Weil (NASHP) on state roles in national health reform.
Read MoreNew to the Book Club – national health reform
The newest addition to the CT Health Policy Project Book Club, Landmark: The Inside Story of America’s New Health-Care Law and What It Means for Us All by the Staff of the Washington Post, details the ups and downs of how national health reform passed this year, highlighting the players. Our Sen. Lieberman got his…
Read More44,000 CT small businesses eligible for health insurance tax breaks
Thanks to national health reform 44,000 CT businesses are eligible for tax credits making health insurance more affordable. Starting this year, businesses with less than 25 workers and average wages up to $50,000 are eligible for credits up to 35% of the employer’s cost of health benefits (25% for nonprofits). 12,900 CT businesses qualify for…
Read MoreIn first test implementing health reform, state reconsidering high risk pool plans
In our state’s first test implementing federal health reform, Governor Rell has asked DSS and other agencies to start over in their decision to build onto CT’s high risk pool. The federal Accountable Care Act provides funding for temporary programs to provide coverage to people left out of the private market due to; the programs…
Read MoreImmediate impact of national health reform for CT
The White House has developed a list of the benefits of the Affordable Care Act to CT this year. The list includes small business tax credits, closing the Medicare donut hole, funding for early retirees, no lifetime limits on coverage, no rescissions, no pre-existing condition exclusions for children, all children to age 26 can stay…
Read MoreNew report outlines long term cost of fully funding state retiree health benefits, Gov. Rell aggressively pursuing funding opportunities in national h
An early estimate to the state’s Post Employment Benefits Commission estimated that fully funding health benefits for the state’s 42,000 retired workers would average $1.9 billion over the next 28 years. The state now pays these bills as they arise; just over $490 million is budgeted for these costs in the fiscal year that starts…
Read MoreCT woman files one of first actions under federal genetic anti-discrimination law
Pamela Fink, a Fairfield resident, filed complaints last week with the US Equal Opportunity Commission and the CT Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities under the new Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. Ms. Fink argues that her employer, MXenergy of Stamford, eliminated her job after learning that she carries a genetic risk for breast cancer. Ms.…
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