providers
Governor’s consultant report recommendations for Medicaid savings are baseless
It’s not in the headlines but the biggest source of potential savings, $200 million, proposed by the Governor’s controversial report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to save money in state government to is to go back to failed Medicaid financial risk models. There are two problems with the proposal. First, the financial risk models don’t…
Read MoreHUSKY COVID update – new enrollments lag, lots of money to providers, and telehealth is very popular
At Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting, we learned that while new HUSKY applications recovered last fall from its drop last spring, they fell again sharply this January and February. The reasons for the volatility during a serious recession are unclear. DSS focused on how HUSKY has responded to the COVID pandemic. Now covering over a million…
Read MoreConnecticut healthcare employment COVID recovery stalls out
Download the report Like other Connecticut workers, healthcare employment was hit hard by the pandemic in March 2020, according to data from the CT Department of Labor. While the pandemic sharply increased demand in a few healthcare sectors to care for COVID patients, other sectors declined as people and providers delayed non-COVID care. That began…
Read MoreState Partnership Plan losing money but still more expensive than average CT plan options
Download the report Connecticut’s most recent public health insurance option, the Partnership Plan 2.0, offers healthcare coverage to municipal employees. According to a new analysis by Brown & Brown Insurance, Partnership Plan premium increases have not kept up with costs. The very impressive analysis is based on Freedom of Information requests; very little information on…
Read MoreCTNJ: Real Conversation Would Beget Lower Health Care Costs
I recently had an interesting conversation with a lobbyist for the insurance industry. We planned to talk about our narrow legislative issues to find any common ground. Predictably, we disagreed on some key points, but we agreed on a lot more. We agreed that it’s hard to get people across the health care system onto…
Read MoreCT 4th best among states in dental health
An analysis by WalletHub finds that the dental health of Connecticut residents is better than all but three other states (Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota) and the District of Columbia. We rank third on oral health but tenth on dental habits and care, which is confusing but far better than the converse. The analysis compared states…
Read MoreCTNJ: If The COVID Vaccine Is Free For Patients, Who Is Paying For It?
Federal law ensures the COVID vaccine will be provided to every American at no cost. So who is paying for it? Because it’s healthcare, the answer is complicated and we are all paying for it – mostly through taxes and a bit through our insurance premiums. Read more
Read MoreGovernor’s budget includes drug cost control and exchange subsidies, but misses other health priorities
Released today, the Governor’s budget proposal for the next two fiscal years acknowledges the importance of addressing critical health priorities, especially during a pandemic. The document highlights the state’s public health challenges of funding and implementing COVID testing, treatment, and vaccination all while facing a severe economic slowdown, high unemployment, and increased demand for social…
Read MoreCT Medicaid rates squeezed a bit but still higher than other states
A new comparison published this month in Health Affairs finds that Connecticut Medicaid provider payment rates lost some ground between 2012 and 2019, but they remain higher than the US average and well above most nearby states. Primary care rates are highest relative to other states than other services. From 2012 to 2019, compared to…
Read MoreHalf of CT hospitals not compliant with new requirement to post negotiated prices for care
Download the report As of January 1st, all US hospitals are required to prominently display on a publicly available website prices privately negotiated with payers for 300 services, under CMS’s Hospital Price Transparency Rule. Hospital “charges” have been available to patients but not the actual prices paid by insurers. CMS requires both a “display of…
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