insurance
CTNJ Op-ED: How much do CT hospitals spend on administration? No one knows
There’s a growing consensus that hospital prices are the main driver of rising healthcare costs and insurance premiums in Connecticut. The research lays the blame on consolidation in the market. Read more
Read MoreAnalysis: CT hospital finances during COVID’s first year
Download the report Download the extracted data In 2020, Connecticut hospitals’ revenues exceeded expenses by 2.61% or $325 million. Hospitals averaged 1.9% of expenses in uncompensated care, less than the US average. Top hospital executives averaged $2.6 million in total compensation. Hospitals paid $1.3 billion in fees to corporate parent health systems. Large health systems…
Read MorePolicy options to control healthcare prices and protect from private equity
Healthcare service prices are the main driver of Connecticut’s rising health insurance premiums. The consolidation of hospitals and providers into large health systems has stifled competition, allowing prices to rise unchecked. Other states have taken action to protect competition in consolidated markets and it’s working. Connecticut needs to act. Private equity funds are buying critical…
Read MoreNew Cost Cap industry-driven committee gets going
Members of the Office of Health Strategy’s (OHS) latest committee to drive down the growth in Connecticut’s healthcare spending moved past their initial reluctance to engage in their November and December meetings. OHS expects the provider and insurer-dominated committee to agree on ways to reduce their own costs/profits. Hopefully, they do not also use the…
Read MoreFAQs on OHS’s Primary Care Roadmap
Download the FAQs here Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy has developed a Primary Care Roadmap to support primary care in Connecticut. OHS is accepting public comment on the draft Roadmap until the close of business Friday, January 14th. To send comments, email Tina.Hyde@ct.gov and put “Primary Care Roadmap” in the subject line. You should get…
Read MorePublic comment concerns with CT’s primary care plan
Read the public comments Public comment concerns with CT’s primary care plan Today, the CT Health Policy Project submitted public comments with serious concerns about the Office of Health Strategy’s plans to overhaul primary care across the state. The Project has worked for decades to improve access to high quality, affordable care for every Connecticut…
Read MoreOHS primary care committee sharply critical of agency’s plan
In this month’s meeting of the Office of Health Strategy’s Primary Care Subgroup, patient and consumer advocates joined insurers raising very strong concerns about OHS’s plans and capacity to implement the agency’s plan for primary care in Connecticut. OHS plans to double the share of Connecticut’s healthcare spending on primary care while tightly restricting growth…
Read MoreLast year unjustified price increases for nine drugs cost US healthcare $1.67 billion, Humira accounted for $1.4 billion
According to this year’s report, last year the US health system spent an extra $1.67 billion on price increases for nine drugs that were not supported by clinical evidence. Humira led this year’s list at $1.4 billion, accounting for 84% of US unjustified drug price increases in 2020. Humira aside, the more modest price increases…
Read MoreResponse to OHS primary care capitation defense
Today, the CT Health Policy Project responded to a letter from the Office of Health Strategy regarding concerns from 25 independent consumer advocates, providers, and organizations. OHS’s response to our offer to work together to improve the health of every Connecticut resident is very welcome. In that spirit, the letter clarifies a few misunderstandings of…
Read MoreCost Cap primary care project only focusing on raising spending, not services
At the October 26th Primary Care Subgroup meeting, in response to questioning by a member, the Office of Health Strategy’s (OHS) consultants repeatedly confirmed that the goal of the Cost Cap provision on primary care is solely to raise spending, not to increase services. Members raised serious concerns about sending more money into the current…
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