New data finds CT obesity rates grew by 25% from 2011 to 2022

Download the brief New data from the CDC finds that three in ten Connecticut adults (30.6%) were obese last year, up from one in four (24.5%) in 2011. While too high, Connecticut’s rate was 10th lowest among the states. The US average last year was 33.6%, up 21% from 2011. Connecticut’s rate was typical of…

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Healthcare for CT residents with developmental disabilities speaker series – Webinar #2

Following up on the first webinar  with national experts on healthcare access for people with developmental disabilities, the second webinar in the Fall Series will focus on Connecticut. It will be Tuesday, October 3rd at 1:00pm and include results of a survey of state residents with lived experience and their experience of accessing healthcare and…

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CT primary care redesign: What the evidence says

Early in 2023, Connecticut’s Department of Social Services (DSS) embarked on an ambitious planning process to make significant changes to primary care delivery and payment in our state’s Medicaid program. DSS’s planning committee meeting materials and recordings are available here. In Connecticut, there have been differing perspectives about the status of primary care, Medicaid and…

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CT Healthcare Explained — what’s next?

Hopefully, you’ve found our short Sunday Health Policy Minute emails informative and helpful. This is just the beginning of CT Healthcare Explained’s efforts to help make sense of our state’s unreasonably complex system. Hopefully, you’ve accessed the site resources including explainer videos, Basics, and Deeper Dives on the current seventeen topics. Consumers, policymakers, clinicians, students,…

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Healthcare access for CT residents with developmental disabilities Speaker Series

About 45,000 Connecticut residents have a developmental disability. Compared to Americans without disabilities, adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are five times more likely to be in poor health, half as likely to get a check-up, have lower rates of blood pressure checks, flu shots, oral health care, and screens for cancer, cholesterol, vision, or…

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Plans for CT opioid settlement far better than our tobacco history

Connecticut is using our $300 million settlement from opioid lawsuits far better than we did with the 1998 tobacco settlement and similarly to our surrounding states, according to a cross-state analysis of opioid settlement details from Vital Strategies. The report gives details on the uses of the funds, who decides, public reporting requirements, and a…

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Summer reading — Rough Sleepers

I thought I understood healthcare for the homeless, but I had a lot to learn. Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People describes Boston’s Healthcare for the Homeless Program by following Dr. Jim O’Connell’s career of caring for people who live, and sleep, on the streets. He ended up…

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State Health Compare finds CT access to care is good but costly

Connecticut residents have very good access to healthcare, but care is unaffordable for too many. 93% of CT residents have a usual source of care According to updated health metrics, in 2020-2021, Connecticut ranked third best among states in the percent of residents with a usual source of care. Having a usual source of care…

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