Forum on provider consolidation and facility fees

Comptroller Kevin Lembowill be holding a public forum on facility fees and provider consolidation Wednesday December 3rd from 2:30 to 5:30 pm in Room 2D of the Legislative Office Building. Yale-New Haven Hospital, Hartford HealthCare, Anthem, United and ProHealth Physicians will be speaking. Public comment will begin at 4 pm. The forum is part of…

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Health Equity Forum

Next Tuesday, November 25th from 6 to 8 pm, hear about Health Equity in CT at the Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St. Hear from community leaders about the Affordable Care Act – get info on saving money and avoiding hospital bills, answers to questions about enrollment and using your insurance, and voice your opinion…

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New advocacy videos from CT-N

CT-N, Connecticut’s Network, has produced ADVOCACY: Turning the Gears of Democracy — short, easy-to-understand videos on how to advocate effectively. The four videos cover what advocacy is and why it is so important, your right to advocate, effective strategies and how to engage the media to amplify your voice. The videos are exceptional tools for…

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Payment reform webinar slides and video posted

Yesterday Bob Berenson of the Urban Institute graciously walked dozens of webinar participants through the pros and cons of the main payment reform options – fee-for-service, capitation/population-based payment, shared savings and bundles/episodes – and the key challenges of each. Several CT plans are now considering implementing shared savings models, including Medicaid. The main takeaways, from…

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Medicaid update – lots of success but a concerning turf battle

Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on new initiatives to rebalance care for long term supports and services. Through a impressive quilt of waivers, DSS has improved incentives for providers, expanded available services, reduced and eliminated waiting lists, and reduced costs allowing fragile people to remain in their homes avoiding costly and unwanted nursing home stays.…

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CT’s APCD chooses data contractor, concerns remain

The Hartford Business Journal is reporting that CT’s developing all-payer claims database (APCD), run by AccessHealthCT, has chosen Onpoint Health Data to run their system. APCDs have enormous potential to improve population health, track problems, evaluate solutions and maximize scarce resources. Most New England states are ahead of CT in APCD development. However, concerns have…

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SIM discussion on how to cut the budget

In what was supposed to be a one-hour meeting, the SIM Steering Committee met yesterday to discuss how to cut the original $64m budget in the federal application down to $45m, as requested by CMMI. It was a poorly structured meeting that quickly led to a disorderly grab for money. Staff provided members with a…

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Webinar – clearing the confusion about payment model options for CT

Join Bob Berenson, MD of the Urban Institute for a CTHPP webinar November 18that 1pm as he explains health care payment reform options. Dr. Berenson has long health policy experience, both inside and outside government. He served as Director of Medicare Payment Policy at CMS. His work focuses on quality measurement/improvement and Medicare shared savings.…

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Healthcare tops US nonprofit employment; CT health care employs one in seven private sector workers; state health care workers average 25% higher pay

At 7.7 million workers, healthcare and social assistance employment topped other industries in US nonprofits in 2012 with more than four times as many workers as the next largest category (education), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, healthcare and social assistance wages at US nonprofits was about average among industries, averaging $47,324 that…

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Class slides – Implementing ObamaCare in CT

Slides and the syllabus from a Fall graduate public policy class at Trinity College are online. The course, Implementing ObamaCare in CT, is tracking how the Affordable Care Act is unfolding in our state. Class topics for the class so far include ACA 2.0/CT context, health insurance exchange, Medicaid, insurance reform, workforce/providers, public health, health…

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