Medicaid
Medicaid update – impressive quality dashboard demo
At Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting, DSS demonstrated their upcoming HUSKY Health Data Dashboard. When it goes live the dashboard will give visitors drill-down access to a wealth of quality and access data across the program including outcomes, member and provider experience, provider enrollment, spending and utilization, as well as special projects. All Medicaid services will…
Read MoreSurgical hospital coming to CT, promises to serve Medicaid
The Hospital for Special Surgery has received approval to open a large outpatient center in Stamford, according to Crain’s New York Business. The New York hospital has a reputation for very high quality and serving wealthy patients. But as a condition of DPH approval, HSS has agreed that 10% of their CT patients will be…
Read MoreOnly half of fully-insured US Medicaid providers available
A new HHS-OIG surveyfound that only 49% of providers listed as participating by full-risk Medicaid managed care plans were available for routine, non-urgent appointments. When CT had full-risk MCOs running our Medicaid program, a secret shopper survey found that shoppers could only schedule appointments with 25% of listed providers. But things have improved significantly in…
Read MoreMedicaid coverage for children linked to higher tax receipts by age 28
A new studyfinds that in addition to improved health and lower mortality, children who were covered by past Medicaid expansions paid more taxes by age 28. The longer they were eligible for Medicaid, the higher the tax receipts. They also had lower Earned Income Tax payments and were more likely to attend college. Interestingly, the…
Read MoreMedicaid update
The Medicaid Council workgroup developing quality measures to use in reforming Medicaid’s payment system has held a couple of meetings – one very constructive, the first not so much. The first meeting was hastily called, dominated by SIM representatives, and contentious. However, the comforting bottom line from that meeting was that DSS will make the…
Read MoreMedicaid update – lots of success but a concerning turf battle
Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on new initiatives to rebalance care for long term supports and services. Through a impressive quilt of waivers, DSS has improved incentives for providers, expanded available services, reduced and eliminated waiting lists, and reduced costs allowing fragile people to remain in their homes avoiding costly and unwanted nursing home stays.…
Read MoreMedicaid quality up, costs stable since switch to ASO
We got lots of good news at today’s Medicaid Council meeting. New financial reports show that since October of 2013 HUSKY enrollment has grown 20% but spending has grown only 13.6%. Per person spending on HUSKY Part D, which includes the former SAGA members and the newly eligible childless adults from the ACA, has actually…
Read MoreInvestigators highlight problems in Medicaid managed care nationally – but through collaborative effort CT is a success story
Getting a lot of national attention, a new report by federal investigators highlights significant problems in accessing Medicaid care, largely through private managed care plans, as millions of Americans enter the program. However, through collaborative effort, Connecticut serves as an exception to that trend. The report outlines a lack of access or quality standards across…
Read MoreMedicaid Council meeting
This month’s MAPOC meetingwas loaded with updates on the program. The highlight was results from the newest mystery shopper survey. Callers were able to get appointments within appropriate timeframes with 63.8% of participating providers this year, compared to 33.6% last year. Even that is better than the only survey conducted while HUSKY was run by…
Read MoreMedicaid, SIM committee update – PCMH success continues, SIM making important Medicaid decisions
The Care Coordination committee of MAPOC has been given responsibility for oversight and advice on SIM’s controversial new plans for Medicaid, especially the shared savings payment model. The committee’s original mission remains as well – to track Medicaid’s successful patient-centered medical home program. In yesterday’s meeting we heard more about continuing PCMH success. The number…
Read More