Public hearing on impact of the recession

Speaker of the House Chris Donovan is holding the first of five hearings around the state on the impact of the recession on CT families this Saturday, December 5th at 10am at the Legislative Office Building, Room 2C. Policymakers especially want to hear from children and youth about how the recession is affecting them, their families and their communities. The first hour is reserved for youth testimony; grownups to follow. This hearing will focus on the First Congressional District, represented by Congressman John Larson. The hearing is sponsored by the Speaker’s Task Force on Children in the Recession and hosted by the First District Youth Cabinet. For more information, click here.

CT ranks 7th healthiest among states

America’s Health Rankings again finds CT’s overall health better than 43 other states. The good news is that we do well with a low rate of smoking (16%), obesity (21%), and uninsured (10%). The bad news is that we have high rates of infectious diseases and low rates of immunizing children. Authors of the rankings predict that obesity will soon become the prime health problem in the nation. They predict that by 2018, one in three CT residents will be obese. Obesity costs each CT resident, whether obese or not, $1,052 on average. However, if we were able to keep our rates as they are now, by 2018 we would save $582/adult state resident in health bills.
Ellen Andrews

Kaiser compares Congressional health reform bills

The Kaiser Family Foundation has posted a comprehensive comparison of the US House and Senate health reform plans.

Governor’s mitigation plan slashes health programs; 13 better alternatives offered

Yesterday the Governor released her plan to address the $470 million deficit for this fiscal year. This is on top of the cuts made in the budget that passed into law a few months ago. Her proposal includes cuts to the diaper bank, autism pilot, drugs in public coverage programs, new premiums and increases in HUSKY, higher copays in HUSKY and Medicaid, eliminate vision and transportation in SAGA, delay HIV/AIDS waiver, cut lead poisoning programs, genetic disease programs, school based health centers, eliminate adult dental care in Medicaid and SAGA, cut Healthy Start, cuts to community health centers, hospitals and nursing homes. Her proposal also empties all the money out of several funds including stem cell research and the Tobacco and Health Trust Fund.
Sadly, there are alternatives that could save the state money as well as improve health care. We have offered thirteen of them.
Ellen Andrews

Insurance Dept. hearing on United Healthcare buying HealthNet

Monday’s CT Insurance Dept. (CID) hearing on the acquisition of Health Net’s license by United Healthcare was fascinating. If you didn’t hear anything about it, you’re not alone. It was not well publicized, there was little time to respond, and the hearing was not held at the Legislative Office Building, but in a windowless room, down a maze of halls, in the back of the CID offices in Hartford. Just to set the tone of the hearing, the pens for visitors to sign in with at the CID offices carry the United Healthcare logo. The CT Health Policy Project, the CT State Medical Society, the American Medical Society and Patient Advocacy Institute had already been denied intervenor status in the proceeding; apparently CID does not believe that consumers and providers have a critical interest in the proposal.

In an unprecedented arrangement, United is not merging with Health Net (which is leaving CT), but simply buying all their information about us. They can then choose which of us, possibly based on our health status, they will offer to insure. They can also decide what they will charge us. United could more than triple their share of CT’s health insurance market; studies have found that less competitive markets lead to higher premiums for everyone. CT’s health insurance market is already too concentrated and we are at high risk for anti-trust concerns. Also, consumers who are lucky enough to be defaulted into a United policy may have to change doctors and medications. United’s provider panel is sparse in areas of the state and they have a different formulary than HealthNet. Also, as a matter of privacy, United will now have sensitive personal health information on about 200,000 state residents that we never consented to share with them. Health Net is now under investigation for losing a hard drive with Medical claims data. I also pointed out that all those 200,000 HealthNet members already had the choice of insuring with United and rejected it. To default them into a plan they already rejected is not doing them any favor.

For two hours, United’s own lawyers were able to ask their own executives and consultants softball questions extolling the virtues of the proposal. Then CID staff asked technical questions for another hour. Interestingly, United happened to have a large chart display just to respond to one of the CID staff questions. Then we had our turn at the podium. The CT State Medical Society, the Office of Health Care Advocate, the Center for Medicare Advocacy, the American Medical Society, the Patient Advocacy Institute, Middlesex Professional Services and the CT Health Policy Project all testified in opposition. We got very few questions. Then the United witnesses were asked softball questions by CID staff allowing them to rebut any of our concerns (I’m told lawyers call that rehabilitating the witness). One of those questions to the insurer asked whether actual workers in a small business have a role in choosing the insurance plans offered. United, as experts on small businesses like ours, answered that only owners have that choice. I guess that means that consumers really don’t have a voice in choosing health plans, only employers. (In our small group the opposite is the case, but I wasn’t given an opportunity to say that). We were only allowed to submit any written comments for a few hours, however United was given until 4pm the next day to submit anything they choose.
Democracy in action.
Ellen Andrews

Congressman Larson to hold forum on Women’s Health

Women’s Health Care: A Call to Action, sponsored by Congressman John Larson, will be this Tuesday from 8:00 to 9:30am at the Hartford Hilton, 315 Trumbull St. Speakers include Judith Stein of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, Teresa Younger of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women and Ellen Andrews from the CT Health Policy Project. To register, contact Congressman Larson’s office at (860) 278-8888.

New in the Book Club: Super Freakomonics

Who knew that economics, microeconomics at that, could be entertaining? Super Freakonomics, our newest Book Club addtion, includes more examples of why everything, even things that don’t seem it, involves competing incentives and how to find simple, cheap solutions by thinking about things differently including information technology and ER overcrowding, measuring the skill of doctors, and getting doctors to wash their hands with a screen saver. Did you know that walking drunk is more dangerous than driving drunk (the authors don’t promote either)? How the automobile saved New York City from a horse manure crisis. Does a sex change affect your salary since men make more than women? Really funny stuff.
Ellen Andrews