April CT Health Policy Web Quiz

Test your knowledge of trends in CT’s uninsured, take the April CT Health Policy Web Quiz. This month’s quiz was written by Karen Nepomuceno, Policy Intern at the CT Health Policy Project.

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HUSKY waiver hearing tomorrow; DSS proposal kills PCCM

The Human Services and Appropriations Committees are holding a public hearing tomorrow, March 31st, at 1pm in the LOB Room 2C on DSS’ proposed HUSKY waiver. Sign up begins at 11am in Room 2700; bring 50 copies of testimony. The waiver draft codifies DSS’ reversed course from the legislatively approved PCCM plan and limits the…

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SustiNet plan approved by Public Health Committee

HB- 6600, An Act Concerning the SustiNet Plan, passed out of the Public Health Committee yesterday on a party line vote. SustiNet is the only comprehensive health care reform plan currently being considered in Connecticut. Concerns raised at the Committee meeting included the costs of the plan, merging state employees with Medicaid, and increasing Medicaid…

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PCCM waiver hearing March 31st

Next Tuesday the Human Services and Appropriations Committees will hold a public hearing on DSS’ proposed waiver application to continue to run the HUSKY program. Click here for our comments. The notable part of DSS’ application is the decision to limit Primary Care Case Management (PCCM) to Waterbury and Willimantic and to only a select…

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Inside the LOB — Everyone wants what they want

This legislative session I have been to several Public Health Committee hearings and the Appropriations Committee hearing at which I testified. I noticed many interest groups and most of them are asking for money. They either want an increase in funding or they don’t want their funding to be cut. The issues being brought to…

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Doing nothing is not an option

Go to Saturday’s OP-ED in CT News Junkie to see why the President is right and we can’t settle for a lot of little somethings anymore. Ellen Andrews

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Match Day 2009 not good news for primary care

Yesterday was Match Day – the day graduating medical students are matched with residency slots. According to the WSJ blog, only 42% of family practice slots went to students graduating from US medical schools this year. The rest went to foreign school grads, osteopathic medicine graduates, and graduates from prior years. Nine percent of those…

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Courant article highlights medical causes of bankruptcy and foreclosure, if you read into the article

The headline of an article in Sunday’s Courant reads “In CT and elsewhere, more debtors choose personal bankruptcy,” but they missed an important point. The slant of the article is the growing number of bankruptcies resulting from foreclosures. The article describes Maryann Hagberg, a Waterbury woman, and her husband forced into bankruptcy to remain in…

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Great advocacy tool

CT’s League of Women Voters’ 2009-2010 elected officials guide is on-line. It includes how to find your legislators – state and federal – and executive branch elected officials. It includes contact information and guidance to address letters, including titles. (I always have to look that up). Other useful information includes dates of the sessions, legislative…

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Medicaid Managed Care Council meeting; Dumb idea redux

DSS may take advantage of a legislative error and try to implemented premium assistance for HUSKY, according to the department at Friday’s Medicaid Managed Care Council meeting. Two years ago, the agency’s proposal for premium assistance was rejected by legislators in budget negotiations, as it had been for four years in a row. However due…

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