Governor proposes breaking up OHS

In his budget proposal today, Governor Lamont wisely proposed delegating the many functions under the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) to other state agencies. His goal is “to ensure a comprehensive and cohesive vision for healthcare.”

Setting a statewide strategy to improve value in Connecticut’s complex and costly healthcare landscape takes focus and deep data analytic capacity. Stakeholders have called for this reorganization to improve the state’s focus on affordability and to remove conflicts between OHS’s various functions.

OHS’s recent recommendations to make care more affordable were underwhelming and unlikely to move the needle on improving affordability or quality of care. The reorganization can only help policymakers focus on promising healthcare options that will make a difference for Connecticut residents, providers, insurers, and taxpayers.

Under the Governor’s proposal, none of OHS’s 45 positions will be lost in the reorganization. OHS’s current functions will move to better, more appropriate homes across state agencies.

• 23 positions would move to the Department of Public Health (DPH) to perform the Certificate of Need (CON) function that regulates major changes in Connecticut’s healthcare landscape. This includes changes in ownership and additions or reductions in services provided by healthcare entities. CON protects patients’ access to critical services.
  • The Governor is also proposing reforms to the CON process for efficiency and to focus on the quality and value of care, patient access, and the financial stability of the system.
  • Before 2018, CON was housed at DPH.
• 13 positions that relate to healthcare policy and data would move to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM). These positions support affordability of healthcare, medical record access by providers caring for a patient to improve safety, financial data on healthcare spending in Connecticut, and some new health IT initiatives.
• 3 positions would move to DSS to support and evaluate Connecticut’s participation in the new federal AHEAD model.
  • The AHEAD model is controversial. It includes global hospital budgets, moving Connecticut’s 327,519 traditional Medicare members into an unspecified program related to Medicare Advantage, and an also unspecified increase in funding for primary care.
  • If Connecticut commits to participate in AHEAD, it would begin in January of 2028.
  • More on AHEAD and the controversy is coming soon.
• The remaining positions would move to the Dept. of Aging and Disability Services for operations support (3 positions), the Office of Early Childhood for Universal Home Visiting (2 positions), and to the Dept. of Revenue Services for legal support (1 position).