Health Report Card

Lots of changes this month in CT’s Health Reform Dashboard. The inability to finalize the state budget leaves coverage for 8,700 HUSKY parents in limbo. This is in addition to the 17,688 working parents who are already scheduled to lose HUSKY this summer. Despite this, the Health Care Cabinet continues its collaborative work to study best…

Both good and bad news for consumers in planned Medicaid reforms influenced CT Health Reform Dashboard this month. In good news, DSS and SIM agreed to make the well-intentioned but poorly-designed CCIP program optional for Medicaid networks applying to participate in shared savings. A Wall Street Journal article reported on the success of CT’s Medicaid…

In the latest survey, CT health care thought leaders give our state a C+ grade on health reform, down from last year’s survey. CT’s grade for effort also dropped to a B-/C+ in this survey. Higher marks go to the health insurance exchange, Medicaid, and patient-centered medical homes, as for last year. Payment reform/quality improvement…

This month’s CT health reform progress meter ticked down very slightly this month, continuing its hover around the same 25% mark. Medicaid redesign planning is still on track, working collaboratively with all voices at the table. More Medicaid quality data confirms the program’s improvements including exciting news on health equity for high-cost, high-need members. However…

December’s CT health reform progress meter ticked up very slightly this month. Medicaid redesign planning is still on track, working collaboratively with all voices at the table. New Medicaid quality data confirms the program’s improvements and the number of person-centered medical homes in the program passed 100. However that good news was balanced by troubling…

CT’s progress toward health reform inched up this month to 25.7%, ending a four month decline. New Medicaid numbers confirmed that per person costs continue to decline, long after the initial savings from switching away from capitated insurers. The continued progress suggests that structural changes like patient-centered medical homes, quality incentives and intensive care management…

Unfortunately CT’s progress toward health reform is down again this month to 25.6%, dropping for the fourth month in a row. Medicaid’s rushed return to a risky financial model and recent provider cuts led the concerns. However Medicaid officials continue to consult with stakeholders in the design. Higher premiums on CT’s health insurance exchange added…

Unfortunately CT’s progress toward health reform dropped again this month to 26.2% this month, adding to last month’s dip. Growing ethics and transparency problems at SIM led the concerns. CT hospital’s continuing poor performance on Medicare readmissions, consolidation and loss of services across hospitals added to the drop. In good news, if adopted SIM’s underservice…

  Unfortunately CT’s progress toward health reform dropped again this month to 26.4.5% this month, adding to last month’s dip. News that the only about half of AccessHealthCT consumers are even using the coverage they pay dearly for, increasing concerns about SIM’s ethics and grants to insiders, SIM’s cool reception to consumer protections in risky…