uninsured
Public Option Forum – high expectations, big challenges
Legislators were warned that ideas that sound simple are rarely that easy at last week’s forum on building a public option to bring down CT’s high health insurance premiums. The forum by the Insurance and Human Services Committees brought in national experts to explore the concept. The idea is to create a non-profit, publicly-accountable insurance…
Read MoreCTNJ Public Policy Forum: Would a Public Option Help Connecticut?
The second CT News Junkie Public Policy Forum will be next Thursday, Feb. 21st at 10 am in Capitol Room 310. Connecticut healthcare insurance premiums are expensive, pricing out too many individuals and businesses. This session, lawmakers are considering whether to create a public insurance option, accountable to government, to bring down costs. Important questions…
Read MoreMore concerns about YNHH, community health center plans for New Haven primary care
Updated 11:30 am A letter from the City of New Haven’s Department of Services for Persons with Disabilities to the state and new Yale Daily News article and one from the New Haven Register highlight transportation issues with YNHH and the two city community health centers’ plans for primary care. Plans to use Uber to…
Read MoreWeak answers to state’s second set of questions about YNHH primary care plan for New Haven
Yesterday, Yale-New Haven submitted answers to the state’s second set of questions about their controversial plan to shift care for 28,500 mainly low-income people to a new site, far from neighborhoods. They also plan to shift Medicaid billing for those patients to New Haven’s two community health centers “for increased reimbursement through the FQHC enhanced…
Read MoreNew data mapping tool gives changes in uninsured rates by CT town
The CT Data Collaborative has entered new Census data into a mapping tool that gives, among other metrics, the percent of uninsured residents by town or Census tract over time. Two maps compare five-year uninsured rates by town/census tract from 2008-2012 to 2013 to 2017. The uninsured rate in most municipalities dropped between those time…
Read MoreYNHH, clinics respond to state questions on primary care plan
Yesterday Yale-New Haven Hospital responded to questions from the state prompted by community and advocate concerns at a recent public hearing about their controversial plans to shift primary care for 28,500 people. Technically patients at the new YNHH site would be attributed to the Fairhaven and Cornell Scott-Hill health centers for billing purposes but would…
Read MoreAccessHealthCT enrollment down in early numbers but 23% of CT uninsured could get bronze-level coverage with no premiums
There are affordable coverage options available for many CT uninsured but they need to apply soon. An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 22,888, or 23% of uninsured CT residents qualify for $0 premiums with tax credits for 2019 bronze-level plans on our state’s exchange, AccessHealthCT. Many likely also qualify for significant relief…
Read MoreMore press and a defense on YNHH, clinics plan for New Haven primary care
Both concerns and support were raised at the public hearing about the proposal to close Yale-New Haven’s primary care clinics, move patients and YNHH clinicians to a more distant site, but technically transfer 28,500 patients to the Fairhaven and Cornell Scott Hill health centers. CTHPP testified with concerns about potentially substantial new costs to the…
Read MoreCTNJ: Analysis – Clinic plan could hit state budget, raise patient costs, increase barriers to access
Last week the state Office of Health Strategy held a public hearing on a plan to transfer 28,500 mostly Medicaid patients, now served by three Yale-New Haven (YNHH) neighborhood primary care clinics, to a new site on Long Wharf owned by YNHH. But in a twist that could cost the state millions, those patients will…
Read MoreCT hospitals report $1.6 billion in community benefits, but most of that is claims of Medicaid underpayment
Yesterday’s Healthcare Cabinet meeting focused on CT nonprofit hospital community benefit reports to the IRS. Last year, CT hospitals claimed $1.6 billion in community benefits, but over half of that (57%) are claims of Medicaid underpayment. Charity care provided to patients unable to pay for their services constituted 21% of total charity care; health professional…
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