Medicaid
House passes budget mitigation plan
Yesterday the House approved a plan to address the $371 million deficit in this year’s state budget. The Senate will vote on the plan today and the Governor is expected to sign it. The bill includes freezing subsidized enrollments in the Charter Oak program at the end of this month; consumers paying full cost will…
Read MoreMedicaid Managed Care Council update
Friday’s Council meeting was relatively uneventful. We started with a wonderful outreach video by CT’s Healthy Start programs describing the important work they do supporting at-risk pregnant women and connecting them to the care they need to ensure healthy births. (Advocates think it would be a good idea to start every Council meeting with babies…
Read MoreNew OLR report finds PCCM succeeds, saves money in other states
A new report by the legislative Office of Legislative Research outlines enrollment, savings and impact on hospital visits in states that have implemented Primary Care Case Management (PCCM). PCCM is a different way of running Medicaid managed care plans (HUSKY in CT) used in thirty states. PCCM does not involve HMOs, but rather rests on…
Read MoreCT Medicaid wins in health reform reconciliation bill
The reconciliation bill scheduled to be considered this weekend by Congress benefits CT’s Medicaid program, and the state bottom line, in significant ways. The bill would expand Medicaid coverage to all state residents (except undocumented immigrants) up to 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL) — $14,620.50 for individuals and $19,669.50 for a family of…
Read MorePCCM Subcommittee update
At today’s PCCM subcommittee of the Medicaid Managed Care Council, DSS unveiled their plans for the Mercer evaluation of the program to be completed by July 1st. Advocates raised many concerns including: · The inability to get any meaningful information on health outcomes with only 200 members on average over the last year · A…
Read MoreMedicaid Managed Care Council meeting update
Friday’s Council meeting was uneventful. After a year, there are 342 people in PCCM/HUSKY Primary Care; legislation requires at least 1,000. Despite that, DSS is steaming ahead on plans to evaluate the program by July 1st. It is fascinating that they are just now deciding to comply with deadlines in this program – they have…
Read MoreReport finds CT long term care skewed toward nursing homes
A new report by the CT Regional Institute finds that the way we pay for long term care costs us an additional $900 million/year in Medicaid costs. Currently, CT spends 47% of our long term care funding on expensive nursing home care; we are 34th in the nation in the proportion spent on home and…
Read MorePCCM bill public hearing
Tuesday the Human Services Committee heard HB-5297, An Act Concerning Statewide Expansion of the Primary Care Case Management Pilot Program. The bill would, as the title says, expand PCCM statewide as of October 1st and delay the planned evaluation of the program until next year. Advocates have raised concerns about DSS’ plans to evaluate the…
Read MoreGovernor proposes more cuts to health care
To address the growing budget deficit, the Governor’s mitigation plan includes $13.7 million in new cuts to health care programs. The cuts include higher copays and premiums for HUSKY Part B and Charter Oak families, cuts to community and school-based health centers, cuts to Medicaid providers, reductions in hospital DSH payments for the uninsured, new…
Read MoreCT a leader in children’s oral health
Some good news for a change – CT is recognized as a national leader in getting dental care to children in a new report by the Pew Center for the States. The proportion of children on Medicaid receiving dental care has been rising since 2005 up to 41.4%. It’s true that is low, well below…
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