Stats & Data
Last year unjustified price increases for nine drugs cost US healthcare $1.67 billion, Humira accounted for $1.4 billion
According to this year’s report, last year the US health system spent an extra $1.67 billion on price increases for nine drugs that were not supported by clinical evidence. Humira led this year’s list at $1.4 billion, accounting for 84% of US unjustified drug price increases in 2020. Humira aside, the more modest price increases…
Read MoreCT ranks 15th among states in healthcare affordability, but that’s not saying much
Connecticut has implemented many policies to make healthcare affordable; unfortunately, they aren’t working. According to Altarum’s new Healthcare Affordability State Policy Scorecard, Connecticut earned 43.1 out of 80 possible points. There is a lot of room for improvement. Altarum ranked states on adoption of policies that can impact affordability and on outcomes, whether care is…
Read MoreCT Healthcare employment is slowly rebounding, except for nursing homes
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. Since then, hospital employment has partially rebounded but not in nursing and residential facilities. At its start, the COVID pandemic sharply increased demand in a few healthcare sectors…
Read MoreSign on letter voices deep concerns with primary care capitation
Today twenty-five independent advocates and providers signed a letter to the Office of Health Strategy opposing capitation of primary care services across Connecticut. The letter shares serious concerns with the Office of Health Strategy’s (OHS) plan to shift all primary care in Connecticut to a capitated payment model. The current concerns echo advocates’ and legislators’…
Read MoreConnecticut hospital systems vary in reducing low-value care
A new report published in JAMA Internal Medicine on low-value care provided to Medicare beneficiaries at the health system level offers actionable tools to improve effective care on the ground. Healthcare services that provide little or no health benefit, may harm patients, increase costs, and waste resources are low-value. Examples include prostate specific antigen testing…
Read MoreOnly one CT hospital makes social responsibility honor roll
Among Connecticut hospitals, only William Backus received A’s on health equity, the value of care, and health outcomes, according to the latest Lown Institute Hospital Social Responsibility Index. Backus ranked #71 among US hospitals overall. The Index scores over 3,000 US hospitals on their performance in responsibility to their community. Seventy-five US hospitals, including Backus,…
Read MoreCT residents over twice as likely to die of opioid or other drug poisoning than from alcohol
Connecticut ranked 17th lowest among states in alcohol-related deaths per capita, but seventh highest in opioid-related deaths in 2019, based on an analysis of data from SHADAC’s State Health Access Data Assistance Center. That year, Connecticut residents were 245% more likely to die from an opioid or other drug poisoning than from alcohol. (Opioid or…
Read MoreLegislative forum on drivers of rising health costs
Connecticut legislators will hear from experts on the drivers of rising health insurance premiums and options to control costs next Friday, September 24th at noon. The forum — Consolidation, Private Equity, and Drug Prices in Health Care Costs — is sponsored by Rep. Kerry Wood, Co-Chair of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee. The forum…
Read MoreRoom for improvement on CT health risks
Download the report Connecticut adults’ health risks are largely similar to the US average, but that’s not great news. According to the latest CDC survey of American adults, Connecticut ranked better than other Americans on most health risks in 2019. In most cases, we are only slightly healthier. We did exceed the US average in…
Read MoreNew healthy aging data report finds CT growing older in every community
Connecticut is the 7th oldest state in the country, according to a new analysis by UConn Boston and Tufts Health Plan Foundation, with 23% of state residents over age 60. The challenges of aging are not evenly spread across the state. Visit the site to see how seniors in your town/city compare to the state…
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