Analysis: Healthcare defies softening labor market

The post-COVID hot labor market is cooling in Connecticut and across the US. While some industries are still seeking qualified workers, others are fully employed or even laying people off. But healthcare hiring is still scorching hot, with no end in sight. It’s increased demand for care but also the stresses of the job. Read…

Read More

CT Medicaid Primary Care Redesign: What the Evidence Says Part 4: Better, Safer Options

Download the full report with sources Connecticut Medicaid is considering reforms to primary care delivery and payment. The CT Health Policy Project is collecting evidence from other states and programs to help inform that planning. Part 1 focused on Connecting with community services to improve health. Part 2 explored primary care payment reform, especially value-based…

Read More

CT health systems ranked poorly by their nurses

Connecticut health systems underperform in an analysis of nurses’ satisfaction with their employers by MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Only four health systems covering Connecticut had enough data to be included in the study – Hartford Healthcare, Yale-New Haven Health, Trinity, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Nurses working at Yale-New Haven and…

Read More

CT Healthcare Explained — what’s next?

Hopefully, you’ve found our short Sunday Health Policy Minute emails informative and helpful. This is just the beginning of CT Healthcare Explained’s efforts to help make sense of our state’s unreasonably complex system. Hopefully, you’ve accessed the site resources including explainer videos, Basics, and Deeper Dives on the current seventeen topics. Consumers, policymakers, clinicians, students,…

Read More

Good-ish news: CT is 13th best state for nurses to work in

Wallet Hub finds that Connecticut is a pretty good state for nurses to work. But the researchers found a big difference between Opportunity and Competition for nurses – Connecticut was 34th – and Work Environment – Connecticut was 4th among states. Opportunity and Competition includes ten measures such as salary, demand for nurses, quality of…

Read More

OHS seeks community input on YNHH purchase of three more hospitals

The Yale-New Haven health system has applied for permission from the state to buy Waterbury, Manchester Memorial, and Rockville General hospitals. The state Office of Health Strategy is seeking community input through a short survey about how this deal could impact healthcare services and costs. These three hospitals are currently owned by Prospect Medical Holdings,…

Read More

Op-Ed: Things to like in the Governor’s budget proposal

This is new for me and I may be alone, but I found a lot to like in the Governor’s budget. This fall the administration must have been listening to complaints about their disappointing healthcare record. Their new budget proposal starts to turn that around, tackling the drivers of soaring healthcare costs – prices for…

Read More

Most CT physicians take Medicare patients, but less than US average; implications for payment reform

At 84%, the large majority of physicians in Connecticut take new Medicare patients according to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, while 91% take new privately insured patients. The US averages are 89% for Medicare and 91% for privately insured new patients. The analysis was of non-pediatric, office-based physicians in 2015 and 2017.…

Read More

Testimony: Consolidation’s harms to stressed healthcare workers

From Haley Magnetta, fellow at CT Health Policy Project, written testimony in support of SB-417, An Act Promoting Competition in Contracts Between Health Carriers and Health Care Providers I am testifying as a clinically practicing Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant (PA). As a provider who has worked in hospitals that have been consolidated, I want to…

Read More

Insurance committee to hear bill to mitigate consolidation and lower healthcare costs

Download our testimony One of the main drivers of Connecticut’s rising healthcare costs is consolidation in the healthcare market, making health coverage increasingly unaffordable for consumers, employers, and businesses. Next Thursday, March 14th, the insurance committee will hold a public hearing on SB-416, An Act Promoting Competition in Contracts Between Health Carriers and Health Care…

Read More