With plans to tie hospitals’ Medicare payments to patient satisfaction beginning next year, some hospitals are seeking advice from The Walt Disney Co., Phil Galewitz reports for Kasier Health News. At least 25 hospitals have signed multi-year consulting agreements with the entertainment giant, and some are sending employees to Disney World for a firsthand look […]
Health
Stories about health care access and affordability in CT, as well as abortion, COVID, health equity and disparities, health systems and social determinants of health.
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Panel recommends free birth control for the insured
The federal government should deem contraception a preventive service that insurance companies must fully cover under the federal health reform law, a committee recommended in a report released Tuesday. Under the law, health plans must cover preventive services identified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with no out-of-pocket cost to the plan […]
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Despite budget woes, more stem cell grants coming soon
Members of a state panel will spend Tuesday reviewing grant applications to award another round of funding for stem cell research. The Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee is expected to award $9.8 million in grants to researchers, part of the state’s 10-year, $100 million commitment to funding the work. In previous years, then-Gov. M. Jodi […]
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Bringing dietary change to “food deserts” not easy
Build it and they will come? That maxim may not apply to big supermarkets located in low-income neighborhoods that are otherwise known as “food deserts.” Food deserts are high-density neighborhoods where residents have easy access to fast-food restaurants and high-priced convenience stories, but have to travel a significant distance to find a big grocery store […]
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Report: Connecticut residents provide 465 million hours of unpaid care to relatives
Connecticut residents spent 465 million hours serving as unpaid caregivers in 2009, providing care to family members that would have cost $5.8 billion if it had to be provided by paid workers, according to estimates in a report released Monday. The report, “Valuing the Invaluable: The Growing Contributions and Costs of Family Caregiving, 2011 Update,” […]
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CT AARP joins debt ceiling lobbying fray
A phalanx of AARP staffers and volunteers, including two from Connecticut, fanned out across Capitol Hill yesterday to lobby lawmakers against making changes to Social Security or Medicare in any debt-ceiling deal. The goal was straightforward, if not a political bank shot: “To get Social Security and Medicare off the table in the discussions about […]
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Report: Millions lack access to basic dental care
Millions of people miss their annual check up at the dentist because they can’t find a dentist, Kaiser Health News reports this morning. The Kaiser story looks at a new Institute of Medicine report on how to improve access to dental care. One contentious suggestion from the IOM: give dental hygenists and other lesser-trained professionals […]
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CT gets almost $2 million for school-based health centers
Connecticut is slated to get nearly $2 million in federal grant money for school-based health centers, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The funding is part of the health reform law, which authorized a total of $200 million over three years for the School-Based Health Center Capital Program. The program awards […]
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Malloy signs bill inspired by Rockville birthing center closure
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has signed a bill requiring hospitals to get state approval before eliminating inpatient or outpatient services, reversing a change made last year. The bill was inspired by the closure of the birthing center at Rockville General Hospital last year, which occurred without a public approval process. Previously, hospitals seeking to terminate […]
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Malloy signs “most favored nation” ban
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has signed a bill prohibiting the use of “most favored nation” clauses in contracts between health insurers and providers, making Connecticut the latest of more than a dozen states to restrict or ban the practice. A most favored nation clause requires a hospital or health care provider to give an insurance […]
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Medicare board under political microscope in the House
How to curb health care costs in the Medicare program? One solution, included in the federal health reform law, is the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a controversial federal panel established to make some of the tough decisions Congress has shied away from. But even as Medicare is a hot topic in Washington’s budget-and-deficit talks, opposition […]
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Health insurance exchanges, explained
The health insurance exchange is one of the most important concepts in federal health reform, and Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News offers a helpful primer on the exchanges, with details on how they are expected to work, who will be allowed to buy coverage through them, and what flexibility states have in designing their […]
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Medicare officials will fix error that could have cost CT hospitals $30 million
The federal Medicare and Medicaid agency has agreed to correct a $30 million mistake how it calculates payments to Connecticut hospitals. The Connecticut Hospital Association first caught the error, a provision in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ complex reimbursement rules. The CHA determined that the error would have cost one hospital in Rep. […]
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Report: Connecticut one of the least obese states, but still needs improvement
Connecticut is one of the nation’s least obese states, but that’s no reason to celebrate, according to a report released Thursday. “Today, the state with the lowest adult obesity rate would have had the highest rate in 1995,” said Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, which along with the Robert Wood […]
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SEBAC, SustiNet and Sal Luciano’s letter
No one disputes the basic facts: The head of the largest state employee union, Council 4 AFSCME Executive Director Sal Luciano, sat on the board that developed the proposed SustiNet state-run health care plan. He was among the labor leaders urging state workers to ratify a concession deal that included changes to the state employee […]