Medicaid
Medicaid performance dashboard unveiled; marked improvement with switch from HUSKY HMOs
At Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting, DSS described their new ASO accountability dashboard with performance measures for the program. From January 2012, when the HMOs left the program, to this June the number of providers participating in CT’s program has grown 32%, hospital admissions are down 3.2%, the average length of stay is down 5%,…
Read MoreHUSKY is growing outreach tool for community organizations
Connecticut’s Medicaid/HUSKY program is significantly expanding effective January 1st. 700,000 state residents are already benefitting from the program and up to another 130,000 may qualify under new eligibility rules. Many people denied Medicaid or HUSKY in the past will now qualify. Medicaid and HUSKY provide comprehensive health care coverage without cost. To ensure that…
Read MoreMedicaid Council updates: Medicaid enrollment changes
The majority of September’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on massive changes to how people will apply for Medicaid coverage over the next few months. DSS reported that the new ConneCT system is close to caught up on scanning client documents, but work on the indexing system (assigning documents to the right client’s file) continues. Call…
Read MoreVery encouraging Medicaid PCMH update
Far exceeding expectations, 34% of Medicaid members are now being cared for in person-centered medical homes according to DSS and CHNCT’s presentations at today’s meeting of the Medicaid Council’s Care Management PCMH Committee. There are almost 1000 primary care providers (between approved, accreditation eligible, and glide path status) receiving higher Medicaid payment rates to…
Read MorePublic hearing on ER use and Medicaid
The Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee will be holding a public hearing for their study of whether Medicaid consumers are over-using emergency dept. visits inappropriately and, if true, the impact on the state budget. If true, they will search for reasons including who is inappropriately using the ER, for what problems, and make…
Read MoreNew policy brief on “No wrong door” enrollment
A new brief by the CT Health Foundation describes “No Wrong Door” (NWD), the Affordable Care Act’s seamless plan for consumers to enroll in health coverage. NWD allows consumers seeking coverage to enter through an array of state agencies, be seamlessly routed to a common portal that will assess eligibility and needs, and connect…
Read MoreMedicaid Council update
Last Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on ACA primary care rate increases for 2,277 CT providers including MDs practicing pediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine and some specialties and APRNs for preventive care services. Effective January 1stbut implemented July 1st, the ACA increased these rates to Medicare levels, with 100% federal funding through 2014. On…
Read MoreMedicaid Council update
Today’s Medicaid Council focused on the SIM planning process working to reform CT’s health system across payers. The project is planning a large public input solicitation over the next few months through the Health Care Cabinet. The project is working to engage consumers and develop a person-centered lens for policymaking. We’ll have more on…
Read MoreHUSKY parents stay in Medicaid in state budget
The budget that passed the Senate yesterday and the House this weekend makes no changes to HUSKY parents eligibility. In February the Governor proposed reducing eligibility for HUSKY parents to 133% of the federal poverty level, removing 37,500 working people from the program and saving the state $5.9 million next year and $59.5 million the…
Read MoreConneCT consumer portal looks good
Today’s Medicaid Council focused on ConneCT, DSS’s new consumer portal and document management system. The demonstration by Deloitte was impressive. Unlike the insurance exchange portal, also developed by Deloitte, the DSS system is consumer-friendly, understandable, intuitive, quick, and will integrate medical assistance with other state assistance programs. The DSS portal took less than 5 minutes…
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