Medicaid self-insurance/ASO planning meeting

Friday DSS met with advocates, providers, state agency representatives, and potential bidders to collect input on the RFP for an administrative services organization (ASO) contract for all 600,000 state Medicaid members. In a shift of policy, the Malloy administration announced three weeks ago that the state would be moving to a self-insured ASO model for…

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Insurance exchange planning meeting

CT’s Health Insurance Exchange Planning Group held its first meeting under the new administration. Filed legislation offers two very different views for CT’s health insurance exchange, particularly regarding the role of insurers and providers in developing standards and choosing health plans allowed to participate in the exchange. OPM reported on the RFP for development of…

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Free dental care resource

The CT State Dental Society website includes a new charitable outreach dental calendar outlining free dental care events across the state. The site lists what is covered, where, when, who is sponsoring, and how to get more information.

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State Health Insurance Exchange Webinar

Join the Council of State Governments for a webinar for our Eastern region states with Joel Ario, DHHS Director of the Office of Health Insurance Exchanges, to answer all our questions about federal funding and supports for states creating health insurance exchanges. The webinar is tomorrow, Feb. 23rd at 11:30 am. This promises to be…

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CT Health Foundation fellows program

The CT Health Foundation is currently seeking nominations for their Health Leadership Fellows Program. Training includes understanding and implementing health systems change solutions; developing strategic messaging and communications; and organizing and working in multidisciplinary teams. The Foundation is seeking people who will work to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. Applications are due by May…

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Medicaid Council update

Today’s meeting started with an entertaining LOB intruder alert drill by the Capitol Police. DSS described shift to ASO for Charter Oak, HUSKY A and B, low income adults and all other Medicaid clients. The goal is to create dynamic, innovative local systems of care and support that are rewarded for providing better value over…

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Governor’s budget proposal out

Governor Malloy’s first budget proposal, released today, includes tough choices for health care consumers but also some very good news. New copays for Medicaid services will likely reduce both appropriate and inappropriate utilization, but all Medicaid members will be able to access important tobacco cessation treatment. Reductions in benefits for low income adults are concerning…

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SustiNet and health insurance exchange bills heard

The Public Health, Human Services and Insurance Committees had a public hearing on the SustiNet bill and competing visions for CT’s health insurance exchange yesterday. Public support was overwhelming for SustiNet; most legislators were supportive. Some asked for concrete assurances of how much the plan will reduce costs and improve access to care. But as…

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Webinar: CT health information exchange up and running

Join us for a webinar with Scott Cleary of eHealthCT, Feb. 22nd at 1pm to hear about CT’s successful Medicaid health information exchange. Funded under a Medicaid transformation grant, the exchange is up and running, sharing treatment information securely with consumer-friendly privacy protections, to improve patient safety and reduce duplication. To register for the webinar,…

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Desig Thinking Conference – Designing for Health

This year’s Donaghue Foundation conference will explore how design thinking is being used to reduce fragmentation in today’s health care system. The conference will be Friday, May 6th from 7:30am to 12:30 pm in Farmington.

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