healthcare markets
CT Health Reform update – hospital consolidation delay allows breathing room but weak SIM proposal for Medicaid is troubling
The Governor’s Executive Order to delay approvals of large hospital consolidations leads the CT Health Reform Dashboardupdates this month. $185 million savings in the state’s share of Medicaid spending last year also leads the news. Medicaid redesign planning is still on track, working collaboratively with all voices at the table. However that good news was…
Read MoreGovernor orders delay, time to study CON approvals for massive hospital mergers
Yesterday Governor Malloy issued an Executive Order halting state Certificate of Need approvals for hospital mergers that would cover more than 20% of total CT hospital spending until Jan. 15, 2017. The delay will allow for a “fair and through” review of the CON process by a new taskforce. Concerns about the current CON process…
Read MoreFascinating Health Care Cabinet meeting on hospital markets, concentration, costs and the magic of VT
This week’s Health Care Cabinet meeting was fascinating. We first heard about the impact of hospital consolidations in CT. We heard a moving story about a Spanish-speaking woman suffering a mild stroke who had to be airlifted from Windham to Hartford because since Hartford Hospital’s acquisition of Windham Hospital, there is no longer a neurologist…
Read MoreFebruary web quiz: costs on CT’s health insurance exchange
Test your knowledge about costs of plans and MLRs on CT’s health insurance exchange. Take the February CT Health Policy Webquiz.
Read MoreHealth care not immune from gender wage gap, but the size depends on your job
American women workers make 82.5 cents for every dollar men do, according to 2014 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. However that ratio varies considerably by industry from 91.3 in construction to 56.7 cents in legal positions. In health care support positions, women so better than average American women but still 87.9% of…
Read MoreHartford Business Journal 2016 economic outlook including health care
The Hartford Business Journal is looking ahead to next year for trends, predictions and stories to watch in CT’s economy. Health care contributors included Matt Katz of the CT State Medical Society, Elliot Joseph of Hartford Healthcare, John O’Connell of the CM Smith Agency and Ellen Andrews of the CT Health Policy Project. Trends included…
Read MoreReport details dangers of hospital consolidation, especially YNHH and L&M
A new report by a coalition of labor and consumer advocacy groups including the CT Health Policy Project, calls for caution and more study before the state approves pending hospital consolidations. Concentration in CT’s health care system is being driven by new, untested shared savings payment reform models being adopted in Medicare, Medicaid and private…
Read MoreAdvocates’ guide to underservice recommendations
SIM is seeking to radically transform our state’s $30 billion health system and has chosen a shared savings payment model for those reforms. Advocates are concerned about incentives to deny necessary care under the new payment model, as happened in the past. SIM’s Equity and Access Council was charged with developing protections to limit and…
Read More87-page health bill goes to Governor’s desk
The House and Senate have passed SB-811, now on it’s way to the Governor. The bill includesprice and consumer cost notices and websites to help consumers shop for services, sets some limits on facility fees charged by hospitals and outpatient providers, adds to the factors and studies required in considering hospital purchases, and limits bills…
Read MoreProvider consolidation, facility fee forum testimony
At 2:30 today at the Legislative Office Building, the Office of State Comptroller will hold a forum and public hearing on increasing consolidation in CT’s health care system and the growing impact of facility fee charges. Invited speakers include hospitals and insurers. At 4pm the public will have a chance to comment. TheCT Health Policy…
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