HUSKY/PCCM update

Yesterday’s meeting of the Medicaid Managed Care Council was lively, but ended before addressing some important issues. The Commissioner acknowledged that they are still assessing the costs of the program under the current non-capitated arrangement. He stated that they know that the current system costs more than before Nov. 2007 when the capitated contracts ended;…

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HUSKY (waiting for news) and PCCM (more bad news) update

DSS has now changed the date of PCCM’s start from next Thursday to February 1st even in the two small areas they approved, Waterbury and Willimantic. DSS’ plan, approved without revision by the Appropriations and Human Services Committees this summer, called for statewide implementation January 1st. In another sudden change of policy, further limiting the…

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PCCM advocates forced to walk out of meeting

Yesterday’s PCCM working group meeting at DSS did not go well. DSS had no agenda for the meeting which started twenty minutes late. Advocates asked for an explanation of the department’s sudden decision to reverse course from the months-long policy of starting the program statewide to a far weaker program limited to two smaller communities.…

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Governor delinks HUSKY from Charter Oak, guts PCCM

Friday afternoon Governor Rell announced that she will reverse two long standing policies that jeopardized health care for over 340,000 CT residents in the HUSKY and Charter Oak programs. Providers will now be able to contract with the new HUSKY HMOs to provide services only to HUSKY families and not Charter Oak members. The state…

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PCCM applications rolling in

They are still counting provider applications at DSS for participation in PCCM, but early returns are encouraging. Dozens of providers have applied, including physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants, from across the state. All but one community health center has applied. We’ll let you know when we have a definitive list for the opening of…

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PCCM could save HUSKY more than $100 million over HMOs

An analysis by the CT Health Policy Project estimates that it will cost the state $113 million more annually to moving HUSKY families to HMOs than to Primary Care Case Management (PCCM). PCCM is a way of running HUSKY without HMOs, by creating “medical homes” to coordinate care. PCCM has been successful in thirty other states…

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Second PCCM provider forum also successful

Last night, DSS held their second forum for providers on PCCM at DSS’ offices in Hartford. Again the event was very well attended and most providers were enthusiastic about the program. As in Tuesday’s forum, concerns about adequate adult medicine resources were raised, but in at least one case community adult and pediatric providers linked…

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Successful PCCM provider forum last night

Over 30 providers attended the PCCM forum held with DSS at our offices in New Haven last night. We had to get more chairs and make extra copies of the materials. There was a great deal of enthusiasm for the program and most providers suggested that they will be filling out an application. Most providers…

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HUSKY/Charter Oak update

At today’s Medicaid Managed Care Council, the HUSKY HMOs’ provider panel reports showed that progress continues to be very slow. Sen. Harris pointed out that at this pace, the two new HMOs will take over a year to reach capacity similar to CHN’s panels. In the counties already transitioning to the HMOs, 94% of HUSKY…

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PCCM provider forums scheduled

DSS has scheduled three forums for providers to learn more about PCCM. They are all at 6:30 pm. October 21 CT Health Policy Project offices in the Red Cross Building, 703 Whitney Avenue, New Haven *CANCELLED* October 22 Windham Hospital, 112 Mansfield Avenue, Willimantic October 23 DSS offices, 25 Sigourney Street, Hartford Applications and the…

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