Stats & Data
CT homelessness continues to drop but health challenges are serious
This year’s point-in-time count of homelessness in Connecticut finds the numbers are going down – that’s the very good news. This year the CT Coalition to End Homelessness found that on January 22nd, when volunteers fanned out across the state to count the homeless, the number was 3,033. That’s the lowest number since the survey…
Read MoreNew tool makes Medicaid business case for CT to address obesity
Twenty nine percent of Connecticut children ages 5 to 17 are overweight or obese, according to the Department of Public Health. That number jumps to 47.8% for children living in households with annual incomes between $25,000 to 50,000. Many, maybe most, of these children qualify for Medicaid. Only 13.1% of Connecticut high school students eat…
Read MoreCT ranks 5th among states in health system performance this year, up from 9th last year
Connecticut’s health system performs better than all but four other states, according to the latest Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard. We are first in Healthy lives, up from sixth last year. Surprisingly, we also do very well on Access & Affordability (sixth) – it must be the access part. But we have a lot of work…
Read MoreComment open on leading healthcare value pricing methodology
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is seeking public input on their methodology to their development of benchmark prices for tests, treatments, drugs and innovations based on their value. ICER, an independent non-profit research institute, is the key source for value-based assessments. Their reports are used by the VA, Medicare, Medicaid, commercial plans…
Read MoreAppropriations Committee passes their budget proposal — Still mixed news, but better
Tuesday, the Appropriations Committee passed their version of the 2019-2021 state budget on a party line vote. While they mainly agreed with the Governor’s proposal from February, they did improve in some areas. Good and better news – The committee agreed with the Governor not to cut eligibility for HUSKY parents or the Medicare Savings…
Read MoreFor the Book Club: The Tyranny of Metrics
As the world moves toward data and analytics to evaluate progress (and it should), we need to be careful that the movement is meaningful. This must-read is full of cautionary tales, including a chapter on medicine, of mis-use of metrics to evaluate performance that ended up doing more harm than good and box-checking in place…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
Pharma lobbyists flooded Maryland to block a drug-pricing bill. Opponents pushed back – and won. STAT – The story behind the story of how a group of consumer advocates and legislators were able to prevail over Pharma’s considerable resources to get a bill passed to push back on sky high drug prices and protect consumers…
Read MoreMedicare penalizing fifteen CT hospitals for patient safety problems this year
This year, fifteen Connecticut hospitals will receive 1% less payment from Medicare because of infections and patient injures, according to Kaiser Health News. Nationally, 800 hospitals are penalized this year. Five of the CT fifteen in Connecticut are part of the 110 hospitals nationally that have been penalized every year for patient safety since 2015…
Read MoreSeven years later, Connecticut Medicaid still saving taxpayers money
Download the report As with most health care in Connecticut, Medicaid spending was rising quickly before 2012 growing by almost half over the prior four years. But in 2012, Connecticut made a remarkable and unique move — Medicaid switched from a capitated payment model using private insurers to a care coordination-focused, self-insured payment model. Since…
Read MoreCT Medicaid’s managed fee-for-service model saved $300 million last year
Updated 2/19/2019 We got very good news on Medicaid spending, again, at last week’s MAPOC meeting. Per member costs were down 2% from 2016 to last year, even despite hospital rate increases, saving taxpayers $300 million. The state’s share of Medicaid has barely budged since 2014, despite huge enrollment increases. CT remains behind other states…
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