PCCM
New PCCM/HUSKY Primary Care outreach tools
New outreach materials for use by advocates recruiting providers and consumers into PCCM – now named HUSKY Primary Care – are available on the CT Health Policy Project website. The tools include a updated FAQs for providers and for consumers. Our new consumer newsletter is also posted in English and Spanish.
Read MoreDSS gets an earful at PCCM subcommittee meeting
Today’s PCCM subcommittee meeting of the Medicaid Managed Care Council was very heated. Again the room was packed, including four legislators in person and one on the phone. DSS reported that they still have 54 providers in the Waterbury and Willimantic areas participating; no increase from the last meeting two months ago. They are beginning…
Read MoreChallenges and promise of PCCM highlighted in today’s Waterbury Republican-American
An article on the front page of today’s Waterbury Republican-American describes both the potential for PCCM and the challenges in implementing the program, especially with a reluctant state agency responsible for marketing. Volunteers have been left with the job of letting people know about the opportunity and what the program is. Sandi Carbonari, a Waterbury…
Read MoreMedicaid Managed Care Council update
Today’s Medicaid Managed Care Council meeting touched on some new issues and revisited some old ones. There was a strong exchange on the Charter Oak annual $100,000 and lifetime $1 million limits. Sen. Prague talked about a patient who called her office needing treatment for cancer that exceeded the annual cap. He was eventually able…
Read MorePatient-Centered Medical Homes: How they can help CT’s health care system
Medical homes have been proposed as a critical piece of health care reform at both the national and state level. Medical homes are not buildings or hospitals, but a different way of practicing medicine. Care in a medical home is centered on the patient, not the health care system; it is customized for that person’s…
Read MoreNew OLR reports on PCCM, HUSKY employers
According to OLR, in 2004 when Oklahoma switched from HMOs to PCCM to run their Medicaid managed care program, the state saved money and access to primary care improved. An evaluation of OK’s program by Mathematica found that under PCCM the number of participating primary care providers rose 44%, patients’ office visits nearly doubled, avoidable…
Read MorePatient-centered medical home briefing
Medical homes have been featured prominently in federal and state health reform plans. Join us for a policymaker briefing on what the patient-centered medical home concept is and how it might work in CT on Friday June 19th at 12:30 pm in the Old Judiciary Room at the State Capitol in Hartford. Speakers include Suneel…
Read MoreNY medical home provides impressive, efficient care
Yesterday I visited the Queens-Long Island Medical Group office in Flushing, NY. The office is the first NCQA-accredited patient centered medical home in the US. Flushing is a colorful, bustling community; 70% of community residents are Asian. Despite the swine flu outbreak, the office was quiet and calm as it was on my first visit…
Read MoreMedicaid Managed Care Council/Charter Oak update
The news from today’s Council meeting is that while Charter Oak’s enrollment continues to increase – 8,210 as of May 1st — the number of people denied coverage under the program is far higher — 18,635 so far. While 705 of those were denied because they have coverage or have had it in the last…
Read MorePCCM subcommittee to meet
At the last Medicaid Managed Care Council meeting, a subcommittee was formed to follow and advise DSS on implementation of the HUSKY PCCM program. The first meeting of that subcommittee will be May 20th at 10am in Room 3800 of the Legislative Office Building (LOB) in Hartford. For directions to the LOB, click here. The…
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