Stats & Data
Twenty-six advocates support DSS decision to evaluate Medicaid reform
Wednesday 26 independent consumer advocates wrote the Lieutenant Governor supporting DSS’s decision to evaluate outcomes after the first wave of 200,000+ members into the new Medicaid shared savings program, MQISSP. The advocates support DSS’s prudent plan to assess the impact, good and bad, and make revisions before moving more people into the untested program. Enlightened…
Read MoreNew Haven Register Forum: ICER part of solution in addressing drug effectiveness, cost
From yesterday’s New Haven Register: The news is full of recent drug companies’ breathtaking price hikes. A new study by Reuters finds that prices for four of the top 10 U.S. drugs more than doubled since 2011, and prices for the other six rose more than 50 percent. These drugs treat common problems such as arthritis, asthma…
Read MoreCEPAC meeting affirms the value of outpatient palliative care, but more research is needed
At yesterday’s meeting in Hartford, CEPAC took a deep dive into the clinical and cost effectiveness of palliative care delivered in outpatient settings. From CEPAC’s report, “Palliative care is a management approach that provides symptom relief and comfort care to patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses, with the goal of improving quality of life for both patients…
Read MoreCEPAC meeting next Thursday in CT – come watch smart people debate and vote on the effectiveness of palliative care interventions
The March meeting of CEPAC, New England’s comparative effectiveness council, will be in Hartford next Thursday, the 31stat the Bushnell. CEPAC is an independent council of clinicians, academics and consumer advocates who take a deep dive into research around treatments for specific conditions, sorting out and voting on clinical effectiveness, but also which are worth…
Read MoreCEPAC coming to Connecticut – effectiveness of palliative care
The March meeting of CEPAC, New England’s comparative effectiveness council, will be in Hartford on the 31stat the Bushnell. CEPAC is an independent council of clinicians, academics and consumer advocates who take a deep dive into research around treatments for specific conditions, sorting out and voting on clinical effectiveness, but also which are worth the…
Read MoreHow CT can save $1 billion
Per person costs in CT’s Medicaid program fell, actually went down, by 5.9% last year. If the rest of CT’s state budget could match that performance, we would have a $1 billion surplus. Following is my list for how we could spend it (this was fun). · Reverse the HUSKY parents cut · Reverse the…
Read MoreBritish medical humor for the holidays
Formerly known as the British Medical Journal, the BMJ Christmas issue is out with critical additions to the scientific literature such as a study of doctors’ coffee purchasing at work (surgeons drink the most, hierarchical position is positively correlated with high consumption and generosity in paying for others’ coffee) and the growing frequency of quotes…
Read MoreMedicaid update: New data on high-cost, high-need members
Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on CT’s participation in a national technical assistance program to identify and meet the needs of high-cost, high-need patients. This population has received a great deal of attention from policymakers as the best opportunity to both improve access and quality of care as well as control costs. The concept offers…
Read MoreCTNJ Op-Ed on CT’s ACA progress covering the uninsured
Yesterday’s op-ed in CT News Junkie focused on CT’s mixed results in covering the uninsured under the Affordable Care Act. Read more
Read MoreACOs not saving for Medicare, model could cost CT Medicaid almost $100m/year
CMS’s vast shared savings experiment for Medicare has disappointed again in its second year. The plan was to encourage providers to assemble into health care systems, called Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), to coordinate care and keep people well. The incentive was that the systems share half (or more) of the resulting savings. The only problem…
Read More