Comprehensive updated resource on Connecticut’s health landscape from DPH, get involved

Almost one in six Connecticut children are food insecure and the number of state residents newly diagnosed with HIV has been dropping since 2010, according to the Dept. of Public Health’s new 2019 State Health Assessment. In 2017, 14.4% of Connecticut high school students used e-cigarettes, up from 2.4% in 2009. Over one in four…

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Cost cap update – possible easing on growth cap but primary care target proves difficult

In response to concerns from many sources about potential harm to people, the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) is considering easing the proposed caps on the growth of all healthcare spending. In the latest Technical Team meeting, OHS and Bailit, the consultants running the project, said they would consider starting the cap next year higher…

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One in three CT residents reported anxiety or depressive symptoms in June

Since the pandemic started, more people are reporting symptoms of mental illness. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 19% of Connecticut residents are experiencing mental illness and 36.6% report depressive or anxiety symptoms last month. Connecticut adolescents are twice as likely to report a major depressive episode as adults but adults are three times more…

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Study finds PCMHs cost less, fewer ED visits than ACOs

A new analysis finds that total healthcare costs and ED visits are significantly lower for adult patients of Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs) than for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), hybrids (both PCMHs and ACOs), or standard care (from facilities that are neither). PCMH patients had the lowest average total cost of care, 23% lower than standard…

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Half of current COVID hospital admissions are Medicaid members

Connecticut Medicaid has taken a serious hit from COVID. At Friday’s Medical Assistance Program Oversight Council meeting, we learned that while hospitalizations went up, outpatient and physician care went down. In May outpatient care spending was down 51% from last year and physician care was down 36%. Those numbers have risen somewhat but are still…

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Fact Check: Are primary care doctors underpaid?

Download the Fact Check A statement was made in a recent Connecticut state public meeting that primary care physicians are paid less than specialists. The statement was made a recent Technical Team meeting for the Office of Health Strategy’s cost cap project considering a substantial increase in spending on primary care. The facts, however, are…

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Unique hospital ranking includes community and value of care with traditional quality metrics

The Lown Institute now ranks hospitals on 53 metrics that impact both individuals and communities. Typical hospital rankings consider only care for individual patients, not how hospitals serve their communities. Backus does best among 26 Connecticut hospitals at 84th of 3,282 US hospitals; Greenwich ranks lowest in the state and 2,635th in the nation. There…

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Improve health policymaking — Nominate a claim for fact checking

In Connecticut state policymaking committee meetings, advocates routinely hear questionable claims stated as facts. Often very important caveats and context are left out. As non-members, we have no opportunity to question the claim or correct the misinformation. Too often policy is made based on these un-challenged claims. For twenty years, the CT Health Policy Project…

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CTNJ: For a better post-COVID policy process, CT needs to abolish all committees

I couldn’t agree more with my advocacy friends who called on the legislature to open public hearings to online participation. But legislative hearings are only part of the problem. Connecticut policymakers need to abolish all taskforces, boards, workgroups, design groups, consortia, advisory and steering committees, teams, councils, and similar committees. These insular groups, run with…

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