Medicaid is Connecticut’s largest source of federal funding and the largest single line item in the state budget. It covers close to one in five state residents – more than 750,000 poor children, adults and people with disabilities. A major change in federal Medicaid funding is a big worry for the state’s budget director.
HUSKY
Posted inHealth, Money
CT to assist 18,000 parents losing state Medicaid coverage
Leaders of the Connecticut’s health insurance exchange announced Thursday that they would work in partnership with three other state agencies to assist up to 18,000 low-income parents who would lose their state-sponsored Medicaid health coverage on Aug.1 because of budget cuts.
Posted inHealth
Critics: Proposed children’s dental cut threatens CT’s turnaround
Connecticut leads the nation in the percentage of kids covered by Medicaid who go to the dentist – a dramatic change from a decade earlier, when the state ranked near the bottom, according to a national report. But dentists and advocates who have studied the changes say that progress could be set back under a proposal by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to cut the Medicaid payment rates for children’s dental care by 10 percent.
Posted inHealth
Five stories that can make 2016 a big year in health care
“I haven’t seen a time in my almost 10 years here in the state where there’s so much happening in health care,” says state Healthcare Advocate Victoria Veltri. Here are five health care stories to watch in 2016.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Happy birthday, Medicaid, and CT’s HUSKY
Happy birthday, Medicaid! Our kids and our state have a lot to celebrate: a state-federal health coverage program that helps needy youngsters, promotes familial economic stability, and reduces industry costs. As citizens, we can all celebrate 50 years of a program that binds us together, channels our shared civic responsibility, and invests in our state’s most valuable and precious resource, our children.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Despite reservations, CT senators join in approving ‘doc fix’ bill
WASHINGTON — While they had reservations about some provisions of the bill, Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy joined an overwhelming majority in the U.S. Senate to approve a bill preventing a 21 percent cut in Medicare fees for doctors.
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
Newly legalized CT immigrants eligible for Social Security, Medicare, but not other benefits
WASHINGTON – Immigrants in Connecticut who receive provisional legal status under President Obama’s new executive orders will be eligible for Social Security and Medicare, but not food stamps or health care benefits provided by AccessHealthCT.
Posted inHealth
CT Medicaid enrollment at record high under Obamacare
Nearly one in five state residents is now covered by the Medicaid program, according to figures from the state Department of Social Services.
Posted inHealth
CT scales back Medicaid repayment rules for some recipients
Connecticut officials are scaling back the circumstances in which the state can seek repayment from the estates of Medicaid recipients when they die. This addresses what some say is a barrier to getting Medicaid-eligible people to sign up for the program under Obamacare.
Posted inHealth
Obamacare affordability worries, confusion persist as deadline nears
From the start, affordability has been a major concern of both critics and supporters of the law officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. And with the deadline for getting coverage approaching, many people are voicing their worries.
Posted inHealth
Obamacare Q&A: Deadline scramble, repaying subsidies and what the new plans cover
This Obamacare Q&A includes questions about what to do about that deadline if your coverage is slated to run out later this year, what the government can and can’t do to you if you don’t get insurance, what the new plans cover and the possibility that some people might have to repay some or all of the federal funds used to discount their premiums.
Posted inHealth
For some new Medicaid clients, delays getting care, prescriptions
People who are deemed eligible for Medicaid get a letter to use as proof of coverage until their insurance ID cards arrive, but some have found that pharmacies and doctors won’t accept it, leaving them unable to get care or medication.
Posted inHealth
Fewer kids losing Medicaid, but those turning 1 or 18 still vulnerable
The number of children and adolescents dropped from the state’s HUSKY health care program fell during a recent two-year period, but those turning 1 and 18 are still especially vulnerable to losing their medical benefits, according to a report released Friday.
Posted inHealth
7 things to know about HUSKY and Obamacare
Here are some key things to know about how the law commonly known as Obamacare affects Medicaid in Connecticut.