research
Analysis: CT State Employee Health Plan Tied for Richest in US
Last year, Connecticut’s health plan for current state employees and their dependents covered 98% of the costs of that care, according to a new report by Georgetown’s Center on Health Insurance Reform. We are tied with Vermont for the richest state employee plan in the nation. Connecticut’s plan for state employees and dependents would qualify…
Read MoreAnalysis: Limiting the Metrics We Use to Track Healthcare is Cheating
The quality of healthcare in Connecticut is average at best. There is a strong consensus that provider payments should be contingent on performance and quality measures, called value-based payment, or VBP. But the consensus ends there. Read more
Read MoreOHS seeks community input on YNHH purchase of three more hospitals
The Yale-New Haven health system has applied for permission from the state to buy Waterbury, Manchester Memorial, and Rockville General hospitals. The state Office of Health Strategy is seeking community input through a short survey about how this deal could impact healthcare services and costs. These three hospitals are currently owned by Prospect Medical Holdings,…
Read MoreAnalysis: How Brain Shortcuts Undermine Policymaking
Thinking is hard work. Adult brains are only 2% of our body weight, but they use 20% of our body’s energy. To handle the load, we have evolved hard-wired shortcuts called cognitive biases that sometimes backfire. Public policymaking is not immune – it’s riddled with biases that are driving poor decisions. Read more
Read MoreReport finds Hartford Hospital got $78 million more in tax breaks than they invested in communities, 2020
In 2020, Hartford Hospital received $78 million more in tax breaks than they paid out in charity care and community investment, their “fair share” deficit, according to a new Lown Institute report. Hartford has the 19th largest deficit among the 1,773 US hospitals included in the study. According to the report, that $78 million could…
Read MoreOp-Ed: Artificial Intelligence can be the solution, when it isn’t the problem
Legislators want the state to evaluate the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in state agency decision making. As a tool, AI is neither good nor evil, it’s all about how it’s used. Badly done, AI can deny appropriate access to healthcare. But done well, it has the potential to improve care by removing individual…
Read MoreNew standards to include health equity lens in effectiveness, fair pricing analyses
There is a growing consensus that healthcare systems can, unintentionally, exacerbate health disparities for underserved communities. There is a special concern that, as more payers use health technology assessments (HTAs) to promote value in the healthcare system, that health equity be incorporated into the methods. HTAs are evidence-based evaluations of healthcare treatments for clinical effectiveness…
Read MoreCT Medicaid costs stable but hospital spending needs monitoring
Download the report Sources below Connecticut Medicaid per member costs are stable and growing slower than other states. CT Medicaid per member costs are lower than all but 27 other states, just below the median. But hospital spending increases could erode that progress. Medicaid is not the driver of rising state budgets, growing less than…
Read MoreInsurance committee to hear bills that mitigate consolidation and lower healthcare costs
Download our testimony One of the main drivers of Connecticut’s rising healthcare costs is consolidation in the healthcare market, making health coverage increasingly unaffordable for consumers, employers, and businesses. The consolidation of hospitals and providers into large health systems in Connecticut has stifled competition, allowing prices to rise unchecked. Large health systems use anti-competitive contract…
Read MoreData brokers are offering sensitive mental health info for cheap
As the need for mental health care grows and capacity tightens, patients are turning to telehealth and apps. Hispanics are especially likely to use healthcare apps which are not covered by privacy laws. Researchers found data brokers advertising easy access to very sensitive information for as little as $275. Brokers “advertised highly sensitive mental health…
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