Smart Savings
Analysis: DSS Study Suggests MCOs don’t Make Sense for HUSKY
Last Friday, the state released a consultants’ report exploring the Governor’s controversial plan to bring private insurers back to run Medicaid in Connecticut. The report’s authors agree with advocates that there is no evidence that MCOs control costs or improve quality or access to care. They also agree that HUSKY, our state Medicaid program, is…
Read MoreWebinar: Study finds improved early cancer diagnosis and survival after MCOs left HUSKY
Join Rep. Jillian Gilchrest and Sen. Saud Anwar, Co-Chairs of MAPOC, for a webinar December 10th at 2pm with Dr. John Cramer on his study published in JCO Oncology Practice in January. His study found that cancer early detection have increased 4% and survival rates have increased 8% since MCOs left Connecticut Medicaid. There was…
Read MoreFormer Medicaid official offers options to improve the program and a warning
Recently retired from DSS, Steven Colangelo answered the state’s invitation for recommendations to improve HUSKY. He worked at DSS more than 31 years, 10 in Medicaid, focused on the quality of care. His tenure crossed numerous state administrations and seismic shifts in Medicaid policy at the federal level. Steven opposes current state plans to return…
Read MoreAdvocates’ comments to improve Medicaid
In response to DSS’s invitation for comments, last week four consumer advocate members of CT’s Medical Assistance Program Oversight Council (MAPOC) offered constructive recommendations to improve the program. The authors acknowledge the success of Connecticut’s Medicaid program as a national leader in cost control, access and quality of care. The authors strongly recommend against returning…
Read MoreOpinion: MCOs still a bad idea, New Haven Register
On behalf of Rep. Peter Villano, his wife urges Governor Lamont not to reverse 12 years of progress in HUSKY in a Letter to the Editor of the New Haven Register last week. Peter was the legislative champion who fought for over a decade to move private insurers/MCOs out of HUSKY, and since then the…
Read MoreHow 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…
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