Connecticut deductibles are high and rising, but premiums are rising more slowly

Download the report New numbers from the 2018 US Medical Expenditure Panel Survey finds that deductibles for private-sector health insurance in Connecticut are high at $2,322 for single coverage and $3,784 for families, the 3rd and 9th highest among states respectively. Deductibles more than doubled between 2008 and 2018 both in Connecticut and the nation.…

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Connecticut’s uninsured rate stabilizes, retaining ACA gains

Download the report New numbers from the US Census Bureau report that 187,000 or 5.3% of Connecticut residents were uninsured last year. That number is down slightly from the year before when the uninsured rate was 5.5%, but above 2016’s rate at 4.9%. The new data continues the trend of fewer uninsured that began with…

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CT Medicaid child checkup rates jumped when HMOs were fired

Well-child screenings increased twelve percent for HUSKY children between FY 2001 and FY 2012, according to a new report from the Government Accounting Office. While correlation is not causation, it is important to note that on January 1, 2012 Connecticut Medicaid payment shifted from capitation through private managed care companies to our current managed fee-for-service…

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CT Health Policy Project’s 20th Anniversary: Progress, but lots of challenges ahead

Read the report Since 1999, when the CT Health Policy Project was founded, Connecticut’s healthcare landscape has changed in both predictable and unpredictable ways. Costs are rising faster than our economy is growing, and those costs are falling disproportionately on consumers. Experts are predicting another recession and it’s unclear if Connecticut’s healthcare landscape is ready.…

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CTNJ: A recession is coming and it could hit Connecticut healthcare hard

While President Trump disagrees, a recent survey found that three in four economists expect the US economy to enter a recession by 2021. Recessions are a natural part of the economic cycle – it’s not a question of whether it will happen, but when. The last recession, in 2008, hit Connecticut especially hard, and in…

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2020 insurance premium requests increase lower for individuals on AccessHealthCT, most of whom are subsidized, older and higher risk

Connecticut insurers have filed their requests for individual and small group premium increases for 2020 with the CT Insurance Dept. Requests vary from an average reduction of 9.8% for CTCare individual plans outside AccessHealthCT, our state’s insurance exchange, to 22% average increases for Aetna small group plans also outside AccessHealthCT. Six in ten people in…

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Join webinar for patients on leading methodology to evaluate the value of costly treatments

September 4th all patients and groups are invited to a webinar to give input on ICER’s Value Assessment Framework methods. The non-profit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is the nation’s leading independent analyst of evidence on the effectiveness and value of drugs and other treatments. ICER produces public reports used by Medicare, Medicaid,…

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CT eighth highest in unaffordable rents, impacts health

In 2017 almost half (48.5%) of renters in Connecticut spend over 30% of their household income on rent, more than renters in all but seven other states. The analysis by SHADAC found that Connecticut has been in the top ten states for most unaffordable rents in five of the last six years and the rate…

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PCMH + risk scores suggest possible gaming or worse; Advocates call on DSS to delay expansion to protect members and taxpayers

A new analysis of PCMH + members’ risk scores finds unexplained increases compared to the control/comparison group that could signal ACO gaming of the system for financial gain and/or, far worse, a decline in the health of members in the program. PCMH Plus, a controversial new payment model, allows ACO (large health systems) to share…

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CTNJ: CT doesn’t score well on healthcare – prices are to blame

A new state health ranking is out, and Connecticut trails the rest of New England. Connecticut’s big problem is the cost of our care. Our performance in health outcomes and access to care are passable, but we are 44th among states in the cost of care. Read more

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