healthcare markets
New state health data updates – over one in six CT residents have high medical cost burden
According to State Health Compare’s updated data, 18.1% of Connecticut residents had out-of-pocket health costs that were more than 10% of their family income in 2018. That is up from 17.8% the year before while the burden on the rest of the US went down. While Connecticut’s rate is bad, it’s better than the US…
Read MoreMedicaid switch from MCOs saving taxpayers billions
Download the brief here If Medicaid per member per month costs had held steady at 2012 levels, taxpayers would have spent $2.25 billion more by last year. As with most health care in Connecticut, Medicaid spending was rising quickly before 2012 growing by almost half over the prior four years. But in 2012, Connecticut made…
Read MoreCTNJ – Op-Ed: The Individual Mandate Was Never Necessary, But Connecticut Knew That
Arguably the most contentious part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the individual mandate, requiring every American to secure healthcare coverage, appears to have made little difference since Congress removed the penalty last year. Connecticut considered passing a state-level individual mandate both before the ACA and more recently as the ACA has been in peril.…
Read MoreFive healthcare issues to follow in 2020
What Connecticut can do in an election year, with a tight budget, in an unsettled economy, and Washington in gridlock Download the details ACOs and provider financial risk Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are large and growing systems that touch every aspect of healthcare. They make money by reducing their patients’ care costs. Unlike insurers, ACOs…
Read MoreBipartisan Insurance Committee forum finds a lot of consensus on potential reforms
Download the CTHPP presentation Yesterday the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Insurance Committee convened a forum on potential reforms to lower healthcare costs. Legislators invited David Seltz from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. Connecticut speakers included representatives from the insurance industry, providers, state officials, a foundation and advocates. A recurring theme was the need…
Read MoreCT insurers lost enrollment in 2018, Spent 89% of premiums on medical care
There were 332,015 fewer Connecticut residents with commercial insurance coverage last year than in 2017, according to the latest Consumer Report Card from the CT Insurance Department. All insurers lost enrollment. The report also includes important information for consumers including member satisfaction performance, numbers of participating providers by county, medical measures such as cancer screens,…
Read MoreCT healthcare price variation varies
Prices vary by city and for selected healthcare treatments, in some cases substantially, according to Healthscore CT, using the new All Payer Claims Database from the CT Office of Health Strategy and UConn Analytics and Information Management Solutions. The site provides important information on cost and quality for consumers and payers shopping for healthcare services…
Read MoreConnecticut deductibles are high and rising, but premiums are rising more slowly
Download the report New numbers from the 2018 US Medical Expenditure Panel Survey finds that deductibles for private-sector health insurance in Connecticut are high at $2,322 for single coverage and $3,784 for families, the 3rd and 9th highest among states respectively. Deductibles more than doubled between 2008 and 2018 both in Connecticut and the nation.…
Read MoreCTNJ: A recession is coming and it could hit Connecticut healthcare hard
While President Trump disagrees, a recent survey found that three in four economists expect the US economy to enter a recession by 2021. Recessions are a natural part of the economic cycle – it’s not a question of whether it will happen, but when. The last recession, in 2008, hit Connecticut especially hard, and in…
Read More2020 insurance premium requests increase lower for individuals on AccessHealthCT, most of whom are subsidized, older and higher risk
Connecticut insurers have filed their requests for individual and small group premium increases for 2020 with the CT Insurance Dept. Requests vary from an average reduction of 9.8% for CTCare individual plans outside AccessHealthCT, our state’s insurance exchange, to 22% average increases for Aetna small group plans also outside AccessHealthCT. Six in ten people in…
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