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CTNJ: Healthcare questions for Connecticut’s Next Governor
How will Connecticut’s next governor fix the state’s healthcare system? It’s a big job but they will have a lot more leverage and power than many appreciate. Read more
Read MoreACA Medicaid expansion benefits to CT include fewer uninsured, lower ED use, access to behavioral healthcare
A new analysis by the CT Health Foundation outlines the “unqualified success” of CT’s HUSKY expansion. In 2010 CT was the first state to exercise the Affordable Care Act option to expand Medicaid to low income, childless adults, labelling the new population HUSKY Part D. The expansion was largely responsible for cutting CT’s uninsured rate…
Read MoreCT News Junkie: What does it take to stop repeating a bad idea?
Albert Einstein believed the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result. Unfortunately, Connecticut policymakers haven’t learned this lesson. Provider financial risk is a bad idea that has failed both in our state and nationally. Read more
Read MoreThirty-one independent consumer advocates share concerns with SIM’s latest push for capitation
Despite the historic failures of capitation in Connecticut and beyond, our state’s SIM health planning office is continuing the drumbeat to re-impose the risky system across our state, this time for primary care. In Primary Care Payment Reform: Unlocking the Potential of Primary Care, the SIM office is proposing set payments for primary care providers…
Read MoreSmart CT Medicaid smoking cessation coverage
A new CDC analysis finds that CT’s Medicaid program is among the most progressive in covering smoking cessation treatments. Medicaid members are twice as likely to smoke as other Americans. Smoking-related treatment costs US Medicaid programs about $39 billion annually, so effective tools to quit are a smart investment for states. Despite improvements, most states’…
Read MoreCTNJ op-ed: Connecticut should be careful building a public insurance option through Medicaid
Health insurance is too expensive in Connecticut and it may get worse with troubling new federal policies. But one proposed state solution isn’t as simple as it sounds. Read more
Read MoreGood news on Medicaid costs, but big problems with transportation
At Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting, DSS reported that per person costs in CT’s Medicaid program continue to provide relief to the state’s budget, dropping 1.6% from FY 2016 to 2017. Over the last five years, per person costs in the program are down 3.4%. In FY 2016 Medicaid consumed 22.7% of our state budget, compared…
Read MoreMedicaid Study Group recommendations to preserve, build on Medicaid success
Actions to protect Medicaid success long-term Connecticut Medicaid Study Group Since moving away from capitated managed care plans in 2012, Connecticut’s Medicaid program has enjoyed enormous success. Per capita spending is actually down, saving hundreds of millions of tax dollars every year, and making Connecticut the best performing state in the US at controlling costs.…
Read MoreNew data finds CT leads nation in lowering Medicaid costs
New data from CMS actuaries finds that Medicaid per capita health care spending dropped 5.7% from 2010 to 2014, better than any other state. Of note, in 2012 CT Medicaid shifted away from capitated managed care organizations to run Medicaid. Unfortunately, the rest of the CT’s market is not performing as well as Medicaid –…
Read MoreBusting Medicaid spending myths
Despite best efforts by legislators, advocates, and state officials, persistent myths remain about the success of Connecticut’s Medicaid program. It’s understandable – before the shift five years ago away from private insurers to care coordination, costs were out of control, but things are very different now. We’ve looked under the hood, drilled down into details,…
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