HUSKY
20,000 to 25,000 HUSKY parents lose coverage under state budget deal
According to a CT Mirror report, the budget approved by the legislature and Governor today eliminates coverage for up to 25,000 HUSKY parents with household incomes over 150% of the federal poverty level. The deal exempts pregnant women. While tragic for those families, the Governor’s proposal would have cut more parents and pregnant women at…
Read MoreCT Medicaid/CHIP programs lost 11,019 members between January and February
A new CMS report found that enrollment in CT’s Medicaid and CHIP programs dropped by 11,019 (-1.5%) from January to February of this year. This is very usual, especially among states that have chosen to expand Medicaid under the ACA. Among expansion states, Medicaid/CHIP enrollment averaged 0.98% growth; even non-expansion states saw an average 0.43%…
Read MoreAppropriations Committee restores most of the Governor’s proposed health care cuts
Today the Appropriations Committee released their budget, restoring most of the deep Medicaid cuts the Governor proposed in February. The committee rejected the Governor’s proposal to cut 34,000 working parents and pregnant women from HUSKY coverage. The committee also restored funding, accounting for inevitable delays, for the innovative health neighborhoods pilots to coordinate care for…
Read MoreMAPOC committee beginning work on shared savings program redesign
The MAPOC committee that is working with DSS to redesign Medicaid under the SIM directives met Wednesday to begin the process of designing a shared savings plan. The plan will be called theMedicaid Quality Improvement and Shared Savings Program (MQISSP). In good news, DSS was able to secure from SIM a delay of six months…
Read More20 independent advocates share concerns about SIM’s plans for Medicaid
Yesterday twenty independent consumers, advocates and providers sent a letter to the Lieutenant Governor expressing our grave concerns about the “current plans for widespread precipitous changes” in Medicaid’s payment model. The letter outlines concerns about re-imposing financial risk, this time on providers of care, that creates incentives to deny needed care. States with far more…
Read MoreBig improvement — almost three out of four CT physicians accepting new Medicaid patients
A new analysis by the Centers for Disease Control finds that 72.5% of CT office-based physicians accepted new Medicaid patients in 2013, better than the US average of 68.9%. This is a big improvement over a different survey in 2011 finding that only 60.7% of office-based physicians in CT were accepting new Medicaid patients –…
Read MoreA Better Idea for SIM-Medicaid: Coordinate Care for High-Need, High-Cost Patients
Independent consumer advocates and others have raised grave concerns about Connecticut’s State Innovation Model (SIM) plans to radically change financial incentives in our state’s Medicaid program. The experience of other states offers a proven alternative, targeting resources toward high-need, high-cost patients, that would protect the impressive success we’ve achieved in the last three years. This…
Read MoreUnfortunate SCOTUS decision limits Medicaid provider rights
A decision yesterday by the US Supreme Court reversed a Ninth Circuit decision and ruled that providers do not have the legal right to sue a state Medicaid program under the federal Medicaid act. Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center involved an Idaho clinic suing the state because rates were too low to ensure adequate access…
Read MoreCTNJ Op-Ed: Health Neighborhood cuts misguided
An Op-Ed in today’s CT News Junkie focuses on the Governor’s proposal to cut funding for innovative health neighborhood pilots to serve state residents eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. This program will improve the quality of care for Medicaid’s most costly aged and disabled members, providing significant savings to the state’s budget. The program…
Read MoreDeficit grows, Medicaid revenues below expectations – Let’s hope for good news from April tax receipts
Legislative and administrative deficit estimates for this year vary by $52.8 million, about 0.3% of the total General Fund. However that small difference may be enough to trigger another deficit mitigation plan of cuts by the Governor. However any plan for cuts wouldn’t come until May, and the legislative session ends June 3rd – it…
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