insurance
Working parents can keep HUSKY coverage
The consensus state budget passed late yesterday includes full restoration of eligibility for current HUSKY parents. Over 13,000 working parents with incomes up to 155% of the federal poverty level ($32,209 this year) will keep coverage under the HUSKY program. Also in the budget is funding to cover out-of-pocket health costs for low income seniors…
Read MoreCT News Junkie: What does it take to stop repeating a bad idea?
Albert Einstein believed the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result. Unfortunately, Connecticut policymakers haven’t learned this lesson. Provider financial risk is a bad idea that has failed both in our state and nationally. Read more
Read MoreCTNJ op-ed: Connecticut should be careful building a public insurance option through Medicaid
Health insurance is too expensive in Connecticut and it may get worse with troubling new federal policies. But one proposed state solution isn’t as simple as it sounds. Read more
Read MoreCT exchange premiums up this year, but similar to other states and still too high
There have been national reports of extreme increases for this year in health insurance exchange premiums, largely due to Trump administration policies. Not surprisingly, a new analysis by the Urban Institute for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds that states with more competition among insurers and more options for consumers have the lowest premiums. Connecticut’s…
Read MoreChartbook: Prescription drugs driving CT health costs across payers
According to a new Chartbook, prescription drugs are the largest driver of health costs in our state. We spend more per person on prescriptions than all states but Delaware and that number is rising faster here than most states. Charts regarding Medicaid spending have been corrected to reflect that pharmacy costs in the program have…
Read MoreNew Hartford HealthCare-Tufts insurance company raises concerns
Wednesday, Hartford HealthCare and Tufts Health Plan announced the formation of a new, jointly-owned insurer, CarePartners of Connecticut, to sell Medicare Advantage plans to Connecticut residents for next year, pending CMS approval. Hartford HealthCare includes thousands of providers in home health care, rehab services, long term care, behavioral healthcare, and five hospitals, to date. In…
Read MoreNew CT insurer report card online
CT’s best kept secret, the latest CT health insurer report card is out. Part of the managed care reform law passed twenty years ago, the report allows consumers, policymakers and other stakeholders to compare health plans across dozens of key performance standards, customer satisfaction rates, provider participation by county, and claims denial rates. As in…
Read MoreCT ranks 3rd highest among states in high-deductible health plans
Analysis of new federal data by SHADAC finds that most people (59.3%) in CT covered by employer-sponsored health plans were in high-deductible plans last year, up from 40% in 2013. For purposes of this study, high-deductible plans are defined as meeting the minimum deductible amount required for Health Savings Account eligibility ($1,300 for an individual…
Read MoreEarly look at exchange premiums finds Hartford premium trends modest compared to other US cities
A Kaiser Foundation very early look at 2018 health insurance exchange monthly premium proposals, subject to change, across 21 US cities predicts that Hartford consumers will do well next year. The report compares early rate filings for a 40 year old non-smoker making $30,000/year choosing the second-lowest silver plan. Silver plans are the most popular.…
Read MoreLowest wage workers least likely to be offered health benefits at work
Only 22% of Americas earning the lowest ten percent of wages are offered medical benefits by their employer, according to a new report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This compares with 93% of the top ten percent of earners who are offered medical benefits at work. Unfortunately, the lowest wage workers also pay…
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