Today, independent consumer advocates launched a website, PCMHPlusFacts.org, to explain the
facts about HUSKY’s experimental, new payment plan to run the program. The site
was developed in response to the state’s erosion of federally required notices
to consumers about their right to opt-out of the program. The state changed the
notices at the last minute under political pressure from the large health
systems that stand to profit from the program. Reports from community members
and DSS’s own survey of members find deep confusion. Advocates have repeatedly expressed
concerns about the new program including the refusal to evaluate the impact
on access to appropriate care, expanding without information on impact or
potential increases in costs, disappointing results from other states with
similar programs and great risk
to reverse recent progress in improving quality and lowering costs in the
HUSKY program. PCMHPlusFacts.org is
part of a balanced outreach/media campaign to explain the risks and potential
rewards of the program to HUSKY members.
