Medicaid
Medicaid update: New data on high-cost, high-need members
Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on CT’s participation in a national technical assistance program to identify and meet the needs of high-cost, high-need patients. This population has received a great deal of attention from policymakers as the best opportunity to both improve access and quality of care as well as control costs. The concept offers…
Read MoreMedicaid update: New data on high-cost, high-need members
Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on CT’s participation in a national technical assistance program to identify and meet the needs of high-cost, high-need patients. This population has received a great deal of attention from policymakers as the best opportunity to both improve access and quality of care as well as control costs. The concept offers…
Read MorePoll of CT voters finds healthcare/insurance costs threaten their standard of living, that CT doesn’t spend enough on Medicaid and healthcare
A new poll of Connecticut voters for SEIU finds 46% cite healthcare/insurance costs as a major problem they face in maintaining their current standard of living. Behind only local property taxes, health costs are cited as a major problem by more voters than state income or sales taxes, housing costs, low wages, unemployment, personal debt,…
Read MoreMedicaid Study Group recommendations to preserve, build on Medicaid success
Actions to protect Medicaid success long-term Connecticut Medicaid Study Group Since moving away from capitated managed care plans in 2012, Connecticut’s Medicaid program has enjoyed enormous success. Per capita spending is actually down, saving hundreds of millions of tax dollars every year, and making Connecticut the best performing state in the US at controlling costs.…
Read MoreFirst 2018 CT Health Reform Dashboard reflects lack of progress and growing concerns
The state’s announcement that Medicaid intends to double down on PCMH+ — the experimental, risky new payment model – starting in March without any idea of how it harmed (or helped) over 100,000 people last year is the top concern moving into 2018. It’s also emblematic of how CT makes health policy – flying blind,…
Read MoreNew federal Medicaid data finds CT’s Medicaid administration higher than most states
According to new data from MACPAC, Connecticut spent 5.73% of Medicaid spending on administration last year, higher than 37 other states. If CT had administrative spending like the US average (4.56%), the program would have saved taxpayers $91 million last year.
Read MoreMedicaid update: PCMH+ limping along, bad news for HUSKY parents, and Medicare cuts loom
PCMH+, CT Medicaid’s experimental move back into financial risk that now impacts just over 100,000 people, survived the budget cuts – sort of. The PCMH+ budget was cut from $500,000 (state costs) last year to $300,000 this year, but the SIM federal grant has been devoting a lot of resources to the initiative. We have…
Read MoreCT Medicaid only state to earn A+ for access to HepC drugs
A new report finds that CT’s Medicaid program leads the US in access to new Hepatitis C medications. Hepatitis C affects 3.5 million Americans and causes more deaths than any other infectious disease. CT Medicaid imposes no liver damage, sobriety or prescriber restrictions to HepC drug access that are common in other states. The report…
Read MoreIndependent advocates seek answers about Medicaid experiment
The Medicaid Study Group, a collaboration of CT independent consumer advocates, sent a list of critical questions about PCMH+ to DSS yesterday. PCMH+ is Medicaid’s controversial new payment experiment affecting over 100,000 people and scheduled for a massive expansion next year. Advocates have submitted questions in writing because we have not been able to ask questions…
Read MoreQuality challenges remain in CT Medicaid PCMHs
Also at Friday’s meeting, DSS reported on a selection of quality results from 2015, highlighting concerns. The results compared quality measures for patients receiving care from private practice and community health center Patient-Centered Medical Homes. In other programs, PCMHs have improved quality performance over non-PCMH practices. There remains a lot of room for improvement. Only…
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