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How CT can support the professionals who support patients
How CT can support the professionals who support patients A new brief by the CT Health Foundation highlights the value of trained health support professions and recommendations for sustainable funding. The brief outlines evidence that including support professionals in care teams improve health outcomes and patient experience of care, especially for underserved populations. Engaging them…
Read MoreHappy Birthday to us
The CT Health Policy Project turns 25 on September 1st. No party, but there will be cake. Anniversaries evoke memories — how far we’ve come and how much remains to be done. It’s striking how much of our 20th anniversary advice from friends, still stands. Nothing happens alone. Remembering the dozens of staff and hundreds…
Read MoreAnalysis: Medicare’s drug price negotiation – Why it’s a big deal
For the first time, Medicare has negotiated prices with pharmaceutical companies. Prescription drug costs are a significant driver of rising healthcare costs in Connecticut, rising 7.7% from 2021 to 2022, more than any other category. Medicare covers one in five Connecticut residents, mainly seniors and people with disabilities, and is the biggest purchaser of drugs…
Read MoreBook Club: Random Acts of Medicine
Deliberately randomized experiments in medicine and health policy are usually not possible, or even moral. But with increasingly available data and random changes in circumstances, natural experiments can teach us a great deal about what works and what doesn’t. Random events have a huge impact on our health, more than we’d like to acknowledge. Random…
Read MoreCT Healthcare Explained is updating
We are taking on the massive project of updating CT Healthcare Explained. We just finished the Workforce chapter, including updated numbers and wages for the broad range of people who provide healthcare. We’ve included trends, shortages, disparities, and changes happening and recommendations for improvement. We updated Healthcare Costs last month. Hospitals are next. Connecticut’s healthcare…
Read More43 sign letter urging Governor not to return MCOs to HUSKY
A letter signed by 27 organizations and 16 individuals was sent to Governor Lamont urging him not to return Connecticut’s successful Medicaid/HUSKY program to the failed managed care (MCO) model. The signers cited HUSKY’s progress leading the nation in cost control, quality, innovation, and access to care since MCOs left our program in 2012. Read…
Read MoreCT Medicaid compared to other states – What the evidence says
Download the report Governor Lamont is reportedly considering a plan to have private insurance managed care plans (MCOs) run Connecticut’s Medicaid program. From 1996 through 2011, Connecticut Medicaid was run by MCOs, and it was deeply troubled. The program ended under pressure from advocates, providers, and legislators. Since the MCOs left Connecticut Medicaid, access and…
Read MoreBook Club: Recoding America – Why Government is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better
If you’ve ever muttered under your breath about the inefficiency/waste/frustration/etc of government at all levels, you have to read Recoding America – Why Government is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better, by Jennifer Pahlka. I don’t think I’ve ever dogeared as many pages in a book. While the author explores…
Read MoreWebinar offers tools to improve prescribing
Download the slides and watch the webinar recording Connecticut, like other states, are struggling to improve appropriate prescribing while lowering costs. In Friday’s webinar, Greg Low, RPh, PhD, offered Mass General’s experience of what works to improve physician prescribing at their ACO. Greg is the Manager for Pharmacy Operations at Mass General Brigham Health Plan.…
Read MoreAnalysis: Governor’s healthcare budget is a mixed bag
In his new budget proposal, Gov. Ned Lamont and his administration have continued their commitment to making healthcare in Connecticut more affordable. They understand healthcare’s large and growing burden on state residents, employers, and taxpayers. They also understand the challenges, given Connecticut’s historically poor record on reforms. Some proposals make sense, and some are more…
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