The bill also includes a study by DSS and DPH due next June of
community-based health care service capacity and high-utilizers of emergency
dept.s.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Budget implementer makes significant changes
Early this morning the House passed HB-1502
– the 686-page bill that describes how the state FY 2016-2018 budget passed
four weeks ago is to be implemented. But the bill also makes numerous substantive
changes to the original budget. In addition to tax reductions for large
businesses, the
bill includes the implementer language to cut coverage for 23,700 HUSKY
parents, preserves funding to community health centers for future Medicaid
shared savings changes, more funding for nursing home employees heavily
weighted toward unionized workers, allows DSS to pay nursing homes based on
patient acuity, delays some mental health coverage changes, removes property
tax exemptions for new off-campus properties bought by Yale-New Haven and
Hartford Hospital health systems, allows limited provider lists and cost-based
hospital rates for workers compensation care, concussion notices for athletes, an
ambulatory surgery center tax, expands coverage for autism treatment, changes
how hospital Medicaid rates are structured, changes to Medicaid case management
services, reforms Medicaid provider auditing, allows UConn grad students to
join the Partnership Plan for health coverage, insurance coverage for certain off-label
use of prescription drugs, expands reporting of impaired health care professionals,
makes changes to the medical marijuana program, and creates new Men’s Health
license plates.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Early numbers show CT uninsured rate dropped only 2.1% last year
A new CDC
survey of early uninsured numbers by state, finds that CT’s uninsured rate fell
from 9.1% in 2013
to 7.0% last year, the first year of coverage expansions under the Affordable
Care Act. The US rate dropped to 11.5% from 14.4% in 2013. For some reason, CT’s
drop was more consistent with states that did not expand Medicaid (2.1% average
drop) rather than the 5.1% average drop in uninsured rate among expansion
states like CT. The rate of public coverage in CT grew modestly from 33.3% to
35.9%, while private insurance coverage was essentially unchanged (64.0 % in
2013, 64.1% last year). The uninsured rates
measure the percent of people who report being uninsured at the time of the
interview; the survey is conducted continuously over the year. The numbers were
released prior to final data editing and weighting.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Webinar online – Caring for high-need patients – Lessons for CT
Evidence is
growing that we cannot fix our health care system without addressing the needs
of the small number of patients with very complex and costly health problems.
Connecticut can learn from other programs across the US as we build reforms for our state
and our Medicaid program.
On this week’s webinar we heard from Clemons Hong, MD, MPH; in addition to coordinating complex care
management programs on
the ground, Dr. Hong has written extensively about
lessons learned across
the country. Dr. Hong outlined how to identify and engage high-need patients,
find opportunities for improvement and how to intervene effectively. The
webinar includes policy and implementation best practices from similar programs
across the US. Click here for slides, video and links to articles
from the webinar.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Where We Live – Hospital CEO pay: How much is too much?
Last year, CT’s hospital CEOs averaged over $1million in
compensation. Yesterday’s
Where We Live focused on those salaries and the disconnect with quality of
care. The lowest paid CEO in CT – at New Milford Hospital – runs the only CT
hospital not penalized this year by Medicare for having too many patients
return within 30 days. CT hospitals ranked second worst in the US on
readmissions, and are falling behind across quality metrics. But CEO pay rose
17% on average last year. The rest of us averaged 3.1% increases. Hear the
conversation online.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Webinar: Caring for High-Need, High-Cost Patients – Lessons for Connecticut
Join us Monday, June 22nd at 2pm for a webinar on
best practices in complex care management for the most fragile and costly
patients. Evidence is growing that we cannot fix our health care system without
addressing the needs of the small number of patients with very complex and costly
health problems. Luckily CT can learn from other programs across the US as we build
reforms for our state and our Medicaid program. On the webinar we’ll hear from Clemons Hong,
MD, MPH, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. In
addition to coordinating
complex care management programs on the ground, Dr. Hong has written
extensively about lessons learned across the country. Click here
to register for the webinar.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
CT News Junkie reports on SIM ethics debate
Today’s CTNJ
is reporting on the SIM ethics debate. The article points out that the weak
conflict of interest policy proposed by SIM staff and adopted by the steering
committee admits “Members
of the advisory bodies may participate in program design and development
decisions, even if they or their organizations may potentially reap a benefit.”
At their next meeting, the committee plans to reconsider adopting the state
Code of Ethics that governs all similar councils that are not appointed by the
Lieutenant Governor.
A letter was
sent yesterday to SIM committee members clarifying misstatements about
Connecticut’s Code of Ethics.
Monday, June 15, 2015
SIM punts on ethics
In response to the recent state Ethics
Board Declaratory Ruling the SIM steering committee took up ethics at their
meeting last week. The Ethics
Board found that because SIM committee members are appointed by the
Lieutenant Governor, SIM was not covered by the state Code
of Ethics for Public Officials that applies to similar policymaking committees
in state government.
Unfortunately, rather than adopt the state Code of Ethics,
staff proposed an extremely weak
policy that would do little or nothing to prevent conflicted interests from
driving health reform and SIM’s $45 million in grants. Problems
have already arisen about the application for a grant from a SIM steering
committee member’s employer. This issue was first
raised with SIM’s Consumer Advisory Board in November, with no action
taken, and in a February
sign on letter from advocates to the Lieutenant Governor, with no response.
At their meeting, the SIM steering committee heard from four
public commenters on the importance of integrity, building trust, offering
alternatives to engage key stakeholders without compromising ethics, and urging
adoption of the state Code of Ethics. Commenters noted that municipal boards,
not covered by state law, have nevertheless adopted the state Code of Ethics to
build public trust.
Unfortunately the Committee was misinformed about several
areas of policy. It was reported that the Code
of Ethics includes revolving door and employment barriers to members.
However those provisions only apply to state employees. For example, former
state employees are prohibited from disclosing confidential information they
gained during their state employment for financial gain. The Code imposes no
barriers to employment on non-state employees. Thankfully a SIM committee member
dispelled the misinformation that if SIM adopts the Code, members would necessarily
have to file financial disclosure forms. Only 3.9% of CT’s 65,000 public
officials are required to file financial disclosure forms. Members also seemed
to believe that the financial forms are extensive. Disclosure includes only
naming sources of income, large assets and investments, not amounts; members do
not have to release their tax forms. Contrary to assertions from the Lieutenant
Governor’s staff, SIM committees are not purely advisory – as confirmed by the Ethics
Board Ruling.
Unfortunately, the committee decided to adopt the weak
policy but plans to study the Code further. To ensure the committee has
accurate information, they should ask for a presentation by the Office of State
Ethics. Some members did emphasize the importance of following up on the issue in
a timely way to ensure the public’s trust.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Sign the petition for access to your own health data
Secure access to your personal health information is
important -- for accuracy, to save
filling out forms with the same information over and over, because things get
lost, to be sure the people treating you all have the same information, and so
you know as much as they do about your care. A group of consumers, caregivers,
advocates, health professionals and concerned citizens has created an online petition,
getmyhealthdata.org, urging
policymakers to ensure you have access to your own information and to keep it safe,
secure, private and complete. Sign
today.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Best practices guide on integrating behavioral health into primary care
Up to 70% of physician visits involve a mental health issue
and health care costs for people with mental health issues are often up to
three times higher than other patients with similar conditions. CEPAC, New England’s comparative
effectiveness council, has published their latest guide featuring best
practices for integrating behavioral health services into primary care
practice. Based on the strongest evidence base, CEPAC’s membership of providers
and consumer representatives from across the region, voted to endorse the
Collaborative Care Model of integration. But the group noted that practices
pursuing integration “should
use available resources and seek guidance from organizations that have
experience with the CCM and other models while accounting for differences in
population, resources, treatment priorities, and funding.” In addition
to the full
report, CEPAC has published a guide
for policymakers and other decision makers, and a New
England-specific action guide that includes resources and implementation
support for our region.
Monday, June 8, 2015
June web quiz on CT Medicaid/CHIP enrollment
Test your knowledge of Medicaid and CHIP enrollment in
Connecticut. Take the June
CT Health Policy Webquiz.
Friday, June 5, 2015
Webinar: Caring for High-Need, High-Cost Patients – Lessons for Connecticut
Join us Monday, June 22nd at 2pm for a webinar on
best practices in complex care management for the most fragile and costly patients.
Evidence is growing that we cannot fix our health care system without
addressing the needs of the small number of patients with very complex and
costly health problems. Luckily CT can learn from other programs across the US
as we build
reforms for our state and our Medicaid program. On the webinar we’ll hear from Clemons Hong,
MD, MPH, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. In
addition to coordinating
complex care management programs on the ground, Dr. Hong has written
extensively about lessons learned across the country. Click here
to register for the webinar.
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