The proposals restricting hospitals’ ability to become for-profit are unlikely to become law exactly as written. But they set the stage for what’s likely to be an intense debate about hospitals, fueled by the discomfort among many lawmakers about the way the health care system is changing.
Hospitals
Posted inMoney, Politics
Speaker says CT may need to cap property taxes to fix town budgets
Legislators should brace for a landmark debate next year on how Connecticut finances local services, including capping property taxes and shifting municipal expenses onto the state’s back, House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey said Friday.
Posted inHealth
Proposal to let nurse practitioners practice independently advances
A controversial proposal that would allow nurse practitioners to practice independent of doctors cleared the legislature’s Public Health Committee Monday.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money
House Speaker: Make CT colleges and hospitals pay property taxes
House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey says it’s time for hospitals and private colleges to pay property taxes.
Posted inHealth
CT hospitals’ group recommends notifying patients on facility fees, costs
As state officials push for legislation, the Connecticut Hospital Association has recommended that its members provide patients with specific information about “facility fees” they could incur if they get care at hospital-owned medical offices.
Posted inHealth
Courtney hopeful Congress will address Medicare “observation status”
After years of trying, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd district, said Tuesday that he’s optimistic that Congress will take action to address a technicality that has left thousands of Medicare patients without coverage for nursing home care after leaving the hospital.
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
Primary care providers accepting Medicaid doubled since 2011
Payment rates to primary care providers who see Medicaid patients rose dramatically in 2013, and so did the number of providers participating in the program.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Winners and losers in the governor’s budget
Here’s an early look at who wins and who loses under the budget proposal Gov. Dannel P. Malloy unveiled Thursday.
Posted inHealth, Money
Home care, Medicaid pay, inmate health care in Malloy proposal
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget expands home care programs, creates a new medical assistance program for ex-inmates and provides money to pay primary doctors who treat Medicaid patients. It doesn’t offer any respite to hospitals.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Democrats want more oversight on hospital ownership changes
The future of Bristol Hospital is as part of a large network, CEO Kurt Barwis believes. But that vision of the hospital’s future relies in part on the legislature: With the strong encouragement of organized labor, legislators will make expanding the regulatory oversight needed for changes in hospital ownership a top priority this year.
Posted inHealth
In UnitedHealthcare doctor cuts, some see larger trend
UnitedHealthcare sparked an intense backlash last fall when it notified more than 2,000 Connecticut doctors that they would be dropped from its Medicare Advantage network. Many people in health care believe that what UnitedHealthcare is trying to do — cover fewer doctors and other health care providers — is likely to become increasingly common in Connecticut. And to some doctors, the fight against UnitedHealthcare’s network changes is in part about pushing back against the larger trend.
Posted inHealth
Doctor lists not easy to find for all Obamacare exchange plans
Connecticut’s health insurance exchange had a smoother first week than many of its counterparts across the country trying to enroll potential customers in health plans. But Connecticut shoppers trying to find which doctors and hospitals are covered by the health plans sold on the state’s exchange are getting uneven results.
Posted inHealth
Obamacare: Doctor, hospital participation in exchange health plans still being determined
As the state’s new insurance marketplace prepares to begin selling coverage in less than two weeks, officials are still waiting to find out which doctors, hospitals and other health care providers will accept the health plans being offered.
Posted inHealth
Obamacare: What will my plan cost? What doctors are covered?
Our first batch of reader questions about the federal health care reform law addresses how much individuals would pay to buy coverage, dental insurance, which health care providers are covered, and health savings accounts.