Analysis: Overheard in CT healthcare reform

Healthcare in Connecticut is expensive, and the quality doesn’t match the prices. We’ve had several mis-starts trying to reform our healthcare system. Perspectives vary, but lately I’ve heard some interesting statements that shed light on the problems. Read more

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Recommended Reading – Books

Download the list Building on occasional Book Club Blog entries, I’ve been asked for a health policy reading list. These are books that changed how I think as a health policy analyst. They inspired me, opened my mind, connected dots for me, taught me hard and soft skills, and told stories I didn’t know, even…

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CT Medicaid primary care redesign evidence: Part 1 Connecting with community services to improve health

Download the full report with sources Connecticut Medicaid is considering reforms to primary care delivery and payment. The CT Health Policy Project is collecting evidence from other states and programs to help inform that planning. A recurring theme of supporting non-medical, community services has emerged in feedback across planning groups. That feedback reflects the evidence…

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CTNJ Analysis: Good News on Healthcare Costs, But It Won’t Last

Tuesday’s eagerly anticipated inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics had good news for our battered economy – inflation is down for the fifth month in a row. But the counter-intuitive part is that prices for medical care helped lower inflation. I rarely get to report good news on healthcare costs. Of course, there…

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New affordable coverage toolkit to help people enroll

There were 184,000 uninsured Connecticut residents last year. To help people find affordable, even no-cost, coverage, the CT Health Foundation has developed a user-friendly toolkit to help people enroll. Enhanced federal subsidies and the state Covered CT program are making good insurance coverage more affordable than ever, including no-cost options for many. Open enrollment in…

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Cost Cap outside input very different depending on perspectives

OHS got very different feedback on their Cost Cap project from two outside committees last week. The Healthcare Cabinet, chaired by OHS, was very supportive with one exception. In contrast, members of the Medicaid Oversight Council shared concerns only. In some respects, this reflects the differing experiences with past reforms between Medicaid and commercial plans.…

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Lessons from SIM: Advice from Independent Advocates

Download the full responses here Connecticut’s latest attempt to reform our health system, SIM, ended last month. Despite $45 million in federal dollars, SIM didn’t accomplish much. It was mired in controversy and criticism from across the state’s healthcare landscape. SIM followed several past failed attempts to reform Connecticut’s health system. We asked independent consumer…

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Connecticut’s uninsured rate stabilizes, retaining ACA gains

Download the report New numbers from the US Census Bureau report that 187,000 or 5.3% of Connecticut residents were uninsured last year. That number is down slightly from the year before when the uninsured rate was 5.5%, but above 2016’s rate at 4.9%. The new data continues the trend of fewer uninsured that began with…

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State closes the record on risky YNHH, CHC plans for New Haven primary care

Friday, the Office of Health Strategy closed the record on Yale New-Haven’s application to shift care for 28,500 mainly low-income New Haven area residents to a new site, far from neighborhoods and to shift Medicaid billing for those patients to the two community health centers “for increased reimbursement through the FQHC enhanced Medicaid rate structure”…

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Healthcare Cabinet finalizes recommendations to control drug costs

At yesterday’s meeting, the state Healthcare Cabinet tweaked and finalized eight policy recommendations to lower prescription drug costs in Connecticut. Drugs are the largest driver of skyrocketing health costs. However, the Council acknowledged that, even if these recommendations are all adopted and implemented, a lot of work remains. The recommendations came from months of research…

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