‘This is an ill-conceived and unnecessary change that could fundamentally degrade a critical public health program,’ said DSS Commissioner Deidre Gifford.
DSS
Posted inHealth
Plaintiffs ask court to find DSS in contempt in Medicaid case
The plaintiffs in a federal class action lawsuit who settled with the state Department of Social Services want a judge to find the state in contempt for failing to process certain types of Medicaid applications in the mandated timeframe. The state argued it shouldn’t be found in contempt because the plaintiffs did not prove all elements for contempt.
Posted inHealth
Advocates: DSS call center wait times must be fixed
A group of Medicaid enrollees, providers and advocates demanded Thursday that the state Department of Social Services address the long wait times and dropped calls at its five-year-old call center.
Posted inHealth
Medicaid transportation firm fined for long wait-times for pick-ups
Veyo, Connecticut’s non-emergency medical transportation contractor, has been fined $4,000 for having Medicaid patients waiting over an hour for pick-ups, a violation of its contract with the state.
Posted inHealth
CT bill would require that certain Medicaid enrollees work
A number of legislative Republicans are advocating a bill aimed at imposing work requirements for some Medicaid recipients while also doing away with exemptions from work requirements now allowed to some food stamp recipients in Connecticut.
Posted inHealth
Call-wait times for medical transport better but complaints persist
After having experienced some hours-long wait times, Medicaid patients haven’t had to wait longer than 15 minutes for someone to pick up the phone when calling about medical transportation in the last two weeks, according to Josh Komenda, president of Veyo, the state’s new non-emergency medical transportation contractor. But that figure was immediately challenged.
Posted inHealth
Panel annoyed by inability to question Medicaid transport firm
Members of a state panel on Wednesday were expecting an update from Veyo, the new medical transportation company that oversees rides for Medicaid recipients and has been the source of numerous complaints since it started working for the state Jan 1. But the state Department of Social Services, which hired Veyo, said they had excused the company from appearing.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Proposed cut in dental reimbursement could jeopardize children’s care
Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposed budget charges the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) with achieving $90 million in savings through a reduction in provider rates. A conservative estimate of the impact of reducing dental fees by 5.6 percent indicates that 24,000 fewer HUSKY-insured young people under 21 years of age would have access to a dental visit in each of the next two fiscal years.
Posted inNews
UConn lawsuit, Metro-North, DSS and Wall Street contributions
If getting the 5 Ws – who, what, where, when and why – is one of the first rules of covering a news story, it’s followed immediately by the need for balance. If John Smith is angry at something George Jones said, the reporter knows to call Jones for his point of view.