States are trying every which way to reduce unnecessary ER visits by Medicaid patients, with the various initiatives all aimed at bringing down the skyrocketing costs of that joint state-federal health program for the poor and disabled, according to a Kaiser Health News story. But those efforts are being frustrated “by hospitals’ aggressive marketing of […]
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.
Dive Deeper: Abortion · Access Health CT · COVID-19 · CT Rural Hospitals
Posted inHealth
Waterbury Hospital to merge with St. Mary’s, private group
Waterbury Hospital announced Tuesday that it would join a joint venture between St. Mary’s Hospital and a private Texas hospital group, moving forward with long-contemplated plans to merge the city’s two hospitals. Under the planned joint venture, which must receive regulatory approval, both hospitals would be replaced by a new medical center, an investment of […]
Posted inHealth
National child welfare report card rates Connecticut
A national report card on how children are doing shows one out of every four children in Connecticut live with a family where no one has a full-time job, 4 percent of school-aged teens have dropped out of school, one out of every ten children live in poverty and one-third in a single-parent household. When […]
Posted inHealth
HUSKY enrollment drops, briefly
For the first time in more than a year and a half, enrollment in the HUSKY Medicaid program fell slightly in July, but it rebounded this month and state officials expect last month’s figure to be a one-time drop. The HUSKY Medicaid program, known as HUSKY A, covers children and their parents or guardians who […]
Posted inHealth
When less health care means better health
It might not be intuitive, but Newsweek science columnist Sharon Begley explains why less health care can lead to better health, and why more of it can be harmful. Her article “One word can save your life: No!” helps explain some of the thinking behind controversial recommendations about breast and prostate cancer screenings, and why […]
Posted inHealth
State gets $6.7 million for exchange plans; first meeting Aug. 29
The state has secured a $6.7 million federal grant to help create a health insurance exchange, the marketplace for purchasing coverage that must be operating by 2014 as part of federal health reform. In addition, officials announced that the first meeting of the quasi-public Connecticut Health Care Exchange will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, […]
Posted inHealth
Appeals court rules health reform mandate is unconstitutional
The 2-to-1 decision marks a major blow to the Obama administration in its legal battle over the health law. But in the ruling, which addresses the challenge filed by 26 states, the court also disagreed with a lower court’s ruling and will allow other provisions of the law to remain “legally operative.” Click here to […]
Posted inHealth, Money
Bitter pills on Rx list for debt cure
What kinds of health care spending cuts and policy tweaks are on the table for the congressional super committee charged with coming up with more than $1 trillion in debt-reduction by Thanksgiving? Politico has a good starter list in this report, which also captures the reflective positions likely to be offered up by each party’s […]
Posted inHealth
New England among the costliest for individual health plans
Premiums for individual market health plans vary widely across the country, with Connecticut and New England among the most expensive, according to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The average monthly per-person premium nationwide last year was $215, but the costs varied significantly between states. In Vermont and Massachusetts, premiums averaged more than $400 […]
Posted inHealth
Primary care doctors sue over Medicare rates
Six primary care doctors in Georgia have filed a lawsuit aimed at changing the way Medicare payments to doctors are established, Joe Eaton reports for The Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News. At the heart of the dispute is a little-known body known as the Specialty Society Relative Value Update Committee, or RUC. The committee, […]
Posted inHealth
St. Francis, Johnson Memorial to explore affiliation
The parent companies of Hartford’s St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center and Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs are exploring an affiliation, the latest in a series of possible hospital mergers and alliances in the state. According to a statement released by the two organizations, the proposed affiliation would “help maintain an inpatient hospital presence […]
Posted inHealth, Money
Walmart, Dunkin’ Donuts top employers of HUSKY recipients
Walmart, Dunkin’ Donuts, Stop & Shop, McDonald’s, and the First Student transportation company employ the most workers whose families rely on the state’s HUSKY health insurance program for low-income children and their parents, according to a report by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research. The report identified the 25 companies with the most employees who […]
Posted inHealth, Money
DPH: Funeral home licensing won’t be cut
The state Department of Public Health says it will not stop licensing funeral homes, funeral directors or embalmers, despite announcing plans earlier in the week to do so. On Monday, the department released a statement detailing its plans for cutting $20.6 million over two years. It said that, “DPH will no longer license funeral homes, […]
Posted inHealth
New data on HIV infections suggests troubling trend
New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that while the overall number of people who are infected with HIV each year is relatively steady – approximately 50,000 new infections each year – there was a 48 percent increase in the number of young HIV-infected African American men who have sex with […]
Posted inHealth
An in-depth discussion of the legal challenges to health reform
Need a primer on the web of legal challenges to the health reform law? SCOTUSblog will be hosting an online symposium for the next two weeks on the Affordable Care Act and the high court, if and when the Supreme Court will examine the law, what the legal questions will be, and how the justices […]