Connecticut’s health insurance exchange announced Thursday about 15 percent of low-income parents set to lose their state-sponsored Medicaid coverage at the end of July have transitioned to new insurance plans. Officials expect about 14,000 parents to lose their HUSKY A coverage.
Medicaid
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.
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Can an apartment cut health care costs of homeless ‘super users’?
Connecticut is part of a national demonstration program aimed at finding a new way to address the needs of homeless health care “super users.” It’s designed to test the questions: Can housing and support be the answer? Can it save money? And can it be sustainable?
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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.
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On second try, legislators approve outsourcing plan for brain injury program
Legislators voted Monday to allow the state to move toward outsourcing case management work in a Medicaid program for people with acquired brain injuries, four months after rejecting a similar proposal.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Malloy seeks to cut legislative authority over Medicaid changes
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration is seeking to eliminate legislators’ authority over certain attempts to make changes to Medicaid and other federally funded assistance programs – an authority legislators recently used to block a controversial administration proposal.
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Wait-listed: Budget woes blamed for delays serving people with brain injuries
Twenty-five people are on the waiting list for services under a state-run program for people with acquired brain injuries that has 13 open slots, and advocates say the state is violating the terms of the program by not filling them. State officials dispute that, and say they lack the funding and staff to fill the program.
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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.
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Senate tackles mental health care reform
WASHINGTON — A Senate panel took up the issue of mental health care Thursday, discussing legislation promoted by Sen. Chris Murphy to overhaul the system, an unusual move since Congress hasn’t tackled comprehensive reform in decades.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Malloy to restore funding for smaller hospitals
The administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is making a strategic concession in the bitter political fight over hospital funding cuts by restoring $14.1 million to a half-dozen of the state’s smaller hospitals.
Posted inHealth, Money
Hartford HealthCare, Day Kimball suspend talks, citing state’s ‘reckless’ cuts
Hartford HealthCare and the parent company of Day Kimball Hospital say they have suspended plans to consider an affiliation because of “severe and unexpected” cuts in Medicaid payments, a reference to $192 million in funding reductions Gov. Dannel P. Malloy made to hospitals last month.
Posted inHealth, Money
About one in four who lost HUSKY signed up for insurance
About one in four low-income parents who lost Medicaid coverage in September signed up for a private health plan through the state’s health insurance exchange before the deadline last week – a total of 166 people.
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Hospitals could face larger cut
The governor cut $192 million in Medicaid funding for hospitals last month, but the actual hit to hospitals could end up being 25 percent higher. The state is holding back additional payments that weren’t part of the cost-saving measure, and the governor’s budget office said decisions about whether to pay them will be “based on whether we have enough money to keep the budget in balance.”
Posted inHealth, Money
Market jitters prompt Malloy to make $103M in emergency cuts
Responding to a weak stock market, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy ordered $103 million in emergency cuts Friday, including a major hit in Medicaid payments that will ultimately cost hospitals about $190 million in state and federal funds.
Posted inHealth, Money
Few who lost Medicaid have purchased insurance
When state lawmakers scaled back Medicaid eligibility for thousands of low-income parents to help balance this year’s budget, proponents argued the parents could buy deeply discounted coverage through the state’s health insurance exchange. But so far, fewer than 20 percent of those who lost coverage at the start of this month have signed up.