More on budget cuts – it makes no sense

Providers and advocates detailed the potential impact if the Governor’s budget proposals are adopted in a CT Mirror article published today. Heading the list of counterproductive cuts is the proposal to derail Medicaid efforts to coordinate care for the most costly and fragile members, expanding the successful model that reversed the HUSKY mess under managed care organizations. That program has saved $420 million for the state over the last two years, while also improving the quality of care and attracting 32% more providers to the program. The pilot program the Governor wants to end is ready to go and is the product of three years of collaboration across diverse stakeholders – a model of how health reform can be successful in CT. The pilot relies on a shared savings payment model to reward providers for better value care. But in an odd twist, the administration’s SIM project is simultaneously planning to move at least 200,000 (less costly) Medicaid members into a hastily arranged shared savings model by Jan. 1^st with no prior planning. It doesn’t make sense.