Search results for: cost cap
Governor proposes new health reform planning agency, and more cuts to HUSKY parents
The Governor’s state budget proposal, released today, includes $5.8 million in rearranged funding and staff for a new Office of Health Strategy, effective July 2018, to “enhance coordination and consolidate accountability for the implementation of the state’s health care reform strategies.” The office will combine OHCA (formerly a separate agency, but now part of DPH…
Read MoreComplex Care Committee hears about serious problems with new technology for home health visits
Friday’s meeting of MAPOC’s Complex Care Committee focused on problems with DSS’s new Electronic Verification System to ensure accountability in provision of home care to Medicaid members. Implementation of the troubled, costly, mandated system began January 1st and is scheduled to be completed February 1st. All stakeholders, including consumer advocates and home health agencies, repeated…
Read MorePCMH + evaluation plans – weak review and too late to matter
Wednesday DSS unveiled their initial plans to evaluate PCMH +, the new experimental HUSKY shared savings program that just started January 1st with 160,000 members. HUSKY’s previous experience with financial risk was a universally acknowledged failure. Contrary to promises for a meaningful evaluation of the program before moving another 200,000 members into the program next…
Read MoreDashboard update reflects deep uncertainty at state and federal levels
January’s CT Health Reform Dashboard update reflects CT’s changing health care landscape. Uncertainty is fueled by a significant state budget deficit and, at the federal level, the ACA repeal and radical plans to change Medicaid. The Health Care Cabinet’s attempts at reform are mercifully over. It’s unclear how much of the very contentious report will…
Read MoreHealthcare Cabinet gets an earful on reform proposals
At today’s public hearing, the Cabinet got a lot of thanks for the hard work, but not a lot of support for the proposals. Unfortunately the meeting was poorly attended, especially by some of the strongest proponents of downside risk. Speakers included providers, advocates, a SIM official, a foundation, and business representatives. Many spoke against…
Read MoreTroubling Cabinet vote for downside risk on Medicaid and state employees, but there will be a public hearing
In a 13 to 4 vote Tuesday, the Health Care Cabinet voted to impose the controversial downside risk payment model on CT’s Medicaid and state employee plans. DSS, OPM, DPH and the only consumer advocate at the meeting all voted against the option (votes are listed below). Deep concerns have been raised about downside…
Read MoreNew England health policymakers meet to consider the future of hospitals
Last weekend NESCSO, the Millbank Fund and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services convened a group of twenty-two state executive and legislative branch health policymakers in Portsmouth, NH to consider the future of hospitals in the region. All six New England states were represented. Hospital roles are evolving quickly with national and…
Read MoreHealth Care Cabinet continues to debate reform plan; Medicaid commitment on downside risk reversed
Yesterday’s Health Care Cabinet meeting started with a statement by the Lieutenant Governor stating that the commitment made last year not to implement downside risk in Medicaid was time-limited to end with the state’s SIM grant in 2019. However that was never conveyed to advocates and, in fact, the state made a clear commitment, without…
Read MoreDownside risk explainer and response to Strawman payment model proposal published
In response to questions, we’ve published two new documents about the most controversial part of the Health Care Cabinet’s Strawman proposal for health reform in Connecticut. To help in understanding how downside risk might work, and whether it works, in the context of other options, we’ve developed a fairly short downside_risk_explainer. To address points offered…
Read MoreHealth Care Cabinet starts work on recommendations for reform
Yesterday the Health Care Cabinet gave consultants initial feedback on their “straw man” recommendations to improve health care and control costs in CT. The Cabinet has spent the last several months exploring leading state reforms preparing for our December report to the General Assembly. Members expressed concerns about the proposed consolidation of all state health…
Read More