25 CT hospitals decline to respond to Leapfrog quality survey

Only five CT hospitals reported quality and patient safety data to the Leapfrog Group this year – Bristol, Backus, Dempsey, Stamford and Windham hospitals. The hospitals that did report performed very well in general. Released this morning, the 2015 Leapfrog survey covers nineteen areas including maternity care, high risk surgeries, hospital acquired conditions and resource…

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Community Care Teams addressing high-cost Medicaid member needs

Friday’s MAPOC Complex Care Committee meeting focused on Community Care Teams (CCTs) that collaborate across social service to help people with complex health problems. So far, seven CT communities are developing or already operating CCTs that focus on frequent ED visitors. The CCT teams include hospitals, behavioral health and primary care providers with community resources…

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ACA and covering the uninsured: How did CT do?

An analysis of new Census data finds that 88,000 more CT residents had coverage last year than the year before, largely due to expansions under the Affordable Care Act. CT’s uninsured rate dropped from 9.4% in 2013 to 6.9% last year. However that drop was less than the US average and far less than other…

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Anthem, Aetna and CIGNA have 82.5% of CT health insurance enrollment

  As always, this year’s managed care report card from CT’s Insurance Dept. is fascinating.  Anthem has 44% of total enrollment. Anthem is seeking to buy CIGNA for $54 billion; together they have 64% of CT enrollment. Aetna has 18.5% of enrollment, ConnectiCare has 9.2%, and Oxford/United Health Care has 6.8%. Enrollment is very low…

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Half of CT’s remaining uninsured eligible for subsidies or Medicaid

A new analysis by Kaiser finds that 47% of CT’s remaining uninsured are eligible for subsidized coverage. The latest Census report found that CT’s uninsured rate dropped by 2.5% from 2013 to 2014., but 6.9% of state residents are still without coverage. While 87,000 more residents gained coverage in the first year of the ACA…

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NJ conference on Medicaid ACOs – deep commitment to applying lessons learned

A CT contingent ventured to NJ last week for their 4thAnnual MedicaidPayment Reform Summit. The conference was sponsored by the QI Collaborativewhich is working with the state and private foundations to support accountable care in NJ’s Medicaid program. We heard from Jeff Brenner of the Camden Coalition about their impressive results in serving high-need, high-cost consumers…

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CT Medicaid spending down 4.2% from FY 14 to FY 15

Happily CT’s Medicaid program is bucking the state budget trend. State spending on CT’s Medicaid program fell 4.2% between state fiscal year (FY) 2014 and 2015, largely due to higher federal reimbursements, according to an analysis by the Office of State Comptroller. Between FYs 2009 and 2015, Medicaid averaged 4.1% annual increases, lower than the…

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CT MFP program success featured in Health Affairs

An article in this month’s Health Affairs describes CT Medicaid’s successful Money Follows the Person program. The study by UConn and DSS authors found that participants transitioning from institutional care to community settings reported better quality of life and life satisfaction that continued well after the transition. Some needed to return to the hospital or…

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Administration agrees to more time to design Medicaid reform

Monday the administration announced that they will delay the redesign of CT’s Medicaid program by at least six months. In a letter sent last week by twenty one independent consumers advocates, concerns were raised about the rush back into a risky financial model that could cost increase state costs. Advocates were particularly concerned about jeopardizing…

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