As Connecticut residents continue to die from opioid overdoses at an alarming rate, several doctors agree that being able to share health records electronically across the entire state would help fight the epidemic. But a system to accommodate that sharing remains elusive.
Connecticut State Medical Society
Posted inHealth, Politics
Head of CT medical society says fix, not repeal, the Affordable Care Act
Dr. Jeffrey Gordon, president of the Connecticut State Medical Society, sees the effect of the Affordable Care Act on doctors and patients every day. He knows what’s good about it and bad, and in this Sunday Conversation says why he wishes the nation’s legislators would include physicians in their healthcare debate.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Covered at the job? Obamacare repeal could change your plan — or end it.
WASHINGTON — Most Connecticut residents receive health care coverage through their employers – but that doesn’t mean they won’t feel an impact if congressional attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare succeed. They could lose coverage, face higher premiums or a loss of benefits, analysts say.
Posted inHealth
Wade may be fined for withholding records on Aetna-Humana merger
In a proposed ruling, a Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission hearing officer has determined the Insurance Department failed to prove the records were exempt from disclosure and has recommended a rare civil fine against Commissioner Katharine Wade. The commission is scheduled to consider the case June 28.
Posted inHealth, Politics
‘It’s a public health crisis:’ Malloy proposals target opioids
The proposals include requiring physicians to prescribe opioids electronically rather than on paper; allowing visiting nurses to destroy unused medication; and allowing patients to direct that they not be prescribed an opioid medication.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Consumer group demands Wade recuse herself on Cigna merger
WASHINGTON — A consumer group says Gov. Dannel Malloy should avoid “going back to the days of Corrupticut” and replace Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade as the key state regulator on a proposed mega-merger between Anthem and Cigna insurance companies.
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CT signs off on Aetna-Humana merger, but other hurdles remain
WASHINGTON — The Connecticut Insurance Department has signed off on Aetna’s proposed merger with Humana, but other hurdles remain for that deal and another merger proposed by Cigna and Anthem.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Insurers, hospitals form new campaign to fight drug price spikes
WASHINGTON — The nation’s health insurers are getting a boost from a new coalition that has taken up one of their key causes: halting big increases in drug prices and the cost of medicine. The goal: to press drug price increases and the high cost of many new medicines as an issue in the presidential campaign.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Feds release opioid prescription guidelines
WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday released long-awaited guidelines for prescribing opioid-based pain medicine, but it’s not clear how closely doctors will follow them.
Posted inHealth
How well will new rules on health care cost transparency work?
Lisa Freeman recently tried an experiment: Before having a medical diagnostic test, she tried to figure out what it would cost. “It took no less than five phone calls, and I still never got to the end of the thing,” she said. A major transparency law intended to change that is taking effect this year. How will it work in practice? Health care providers say it might be bumpy at first.
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Study: Black women twice as likely to be re-hospitalized after childbirth
Black women in Connecticut were twice as likely as white women to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of childbirth, and Hispanic women were nearly 50 percent more likely than whites to be readmitted, according to a study published this month in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Posted inHealth
Congress ‘doc fix’ would halt big drop in Medicare fees
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives hopes to unveil a proposal this week that would end years of tension and bickering between Congress and the nation’s doctors. A 21 percent cut to fees paid to doctors by Medicare is hanging in the balance.
Posted inHealth
Malloy: Let nurse practitioners in CT work independent of doctors
The Malloy administration wants to let nurse practitioners work independently of doctors, a potentially significant, and controversial, shift in the health care landscape aimed at expanding access to care.
Posted inHealth
UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage network changes roil physician groups
Physician groups are warning that seniors could face challenges getting medical care because UnitedHealthcare is cutting doctors from its Medicare Advantage network. The Connecticut State Medical Society said Thursday that UnitedHealthcare had sent thousands of letters to doctors in the state saying they had been “terminated without cause” from the insurer’s Medicare Advantage network, effective Feb. 1.
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High court affirms most of Affordable Care Act in 5-4 ruling
The Supreme Court upheld the linchpin of President Obama’s health care reform this morning, ruling 5-4 that Congress can use its taxing power effectively to compel all Americans to buy health coverage by 2014.