Medicaid Managed Care Council update

Friday’s meeting was depressing. The Community Health Centers reported on their large increases in patient volume made possible by investments in infrastructure. In 2008, CT’s clinics provided 263,043 patients with over 1.2 million encounters. Unfortunately, the Governor’s proposed cuts will undermine those gains just as demand for clinic services are up sharply. DSS outlined the…

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Medical home and PCCM meetings

Yesterday’s organizational meeting of the SustiNet Patient-Centered Medical Home Advisory Committee was very encouraging. There is a lot of energy across stakeholder groups, especially among providers and payers. We are soliciting input on who/what groups to consult for input and what issues to consider. Suggestions include business coalitions, NCQA, medical homes from other states, consumer…

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Medicaid Managed Care Council meeting

Friday’s Medicaid Managed Care Council meeting was very frustrating. Upon questioning, DSS made clear that they will not be recovering the $50 million in overpayments to the HUSKY HMOs that were identified by independent auditors commissioned by the Comptroller, proposed by the Governor to cut for the current state budget and agreed to by the…

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Hartford area PCCM/HUSKY Primary Care forum

A forum for providers and consumers eligible for and considering the new HUSKY Primary Care/PCCM option is being held in Hartford on Tuesday November 24th from 5 to 7pm. The forum will be at the offices of Greater Hartford Legal Assistance, 999 Asylum Avenue, 3rd floor, Hartford. HUSKY Primary Care, a form of Primary Care…

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PCCM/HUSKY Primary Care Forum

To answer questions as PCCM, now known as HUSKY Primary Care, is rolling out in New Haven and Hartford by January 1st, advocates are holding a forum Thursday November 19th at 6pm. It will be at our offices in the Red Cross Building – 703 Whitney Avenue in New Haven. The forum is sponsored by…

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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.

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DSS 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…

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Challenges 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…

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Medicaid 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…

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Patient-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…

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