The Republican candidate for governor talks assisted suicide, the need for more mental institutions, hospital changes, Obamacare, the cost of Medicaid, and why private sector thinking could help cure the state’s health care woes.
Medicaid
Posted inHealth
Op-Ed: Federal insurance and Obamacare: Why this birthday matters
Congress needs to correct the disparity between payments to health care providers by Medicare and Medicaid — a disparity that makes it hard for Medicaid patients to find medical care.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-Ed: Federal insurance and Obamacare: Why this birthday matters
Congress needs to correct the disparity between payments to health care providers by Medicare and Medicaid — a disparity that makes it hard for Medicaid patients to find medical care.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics
Foley has lots of confidence, few details, on plans to fix CT budget
To say Tom Foley is keeping his cards close when it comes to his plans to fix state finances might be an understatement. The Greenwich businessman and Republican gubernatorial contender’s positions on key income and business taxes and public-sector wages are guarded at best.
Posted inHealth
Health system overhaul plan has Medicaid advocates worried
State officials are seeking millions of dollars in federal funds with the ambitious goal of redesigning how health care is paid for and delivered to the majority of Connecticut residents. But critics say a late addition to the application could significantly change Connecticut’s Medicaid program, in ways they worry could make it harder for poor people to receive care.
Posted inHealth
How much did Medicaid grow under Obamacare? Not as much as you’d think
Connecticut’s health insurance exchange says 129,588 people signed up for Medicaid from Oct. 1 through March 31. But figures from the state Department of Social Services show that enrollment in Medicaid grew by just over half that amount.
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
Proposed settlement reached in DSS Medicaid application delay lawsuit
The Department of Social Services is seeking approval to hire dozens of additional workers to comply with a proposed settlement to a class action lawsuit alleging that delays in processing Medicaid applications have left poor state residents waiting months to get coverage and care.
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 inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Why telemonitoring makes sense for Connecticut’s chronically ill
The state should support advanced in-home telemonitoring services under our state’s private insurance plans, Medicare and Medicaid programs.
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
Access Health CT has 152,561 enrollees; not clear how many were uninsured
More than 150,000 Connecticut residents have signed up for private insurance plans sold through the state’s health insurance exchange and for Medicaid since Oct. 1, according to Access Health CT, the state’s exchange.
Posted inHealth
Analysis: Obamacare won’t replace Connecticut’s mental health cuts
An early analysis suggests that the assumptions behind a $15.2 million cut to mental health and substance abuse treatment services in this year’s budget aren’t being realized and could leave some service providers with significantly less funding than lawmakers intended.