Monthly Archives: April 2007

Uphill Climb for Maine’s Health Reform Law

Posted on April 30, 2007 by

Valuable article in today’s NYT on the sluggish progress of Maine’s Dirigo Health Plan — click here. Dirigo (Latin for “I lead” — the state’s motto) started with great national fanfare in 2003 as Maine’s “universal health care law.” The … Continue reading →

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Keeping Track of State Health Reform

Posted on April 28, 2007 by

Lots of news nuggets from states on the progress of state health reform. Overall, the news is mixed – some progress, some setbacks, and nothing dramatic. This takes time – MA’s reform law took a good two and a half … Continue reading →

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Health Reform Odds and Ends

Posted on April 28, 2007 by

A number of health reform developments to note: 1. Section 125s: On Friday April 27th, the Connector Board held a hearing on its regulations implementing Chapter 58’s requirement that employers with 11 or more employees offer their employees with access … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Health Reform | 1 Comment

House Budget Amendments

Posted on April 26, 2007 by

The House voted unanimously 157-0 Thursday night to adopt a package of budget amendments relating to Medicaid and Elder Affairs (text here, soon, or try here). The “consolidated amendment” was hashed out in private all day Thursday, taking much longer … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Health Reform, MassHealth/Medicaid | Leave a comment

Two Neat New Tools on Kids Health Coverage

Posted on April 26, 2007 by

Check out these two new tools on children’s health insurance coverage from the Kaiser Family Foundation: First is a national children’s health coverage timeline covering the last 40+ years — click here. Nicely interactive and user friendly. Great shorthand history … Continue reading →

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Quality/Cost Council April Meeting Notes

Posted on April 25, 2007 by

The Quality and Cost Council held its April meeting today. The Council approved sending out a job offer letter to Katharine London for Executive Director. The Council reviewed proposed by-law changes which, in a nutshell, include a new section regarding … Continue reading →

Posted in Health Care Market, Health Care Quality, MA Health Reform | 2 Comments

BBJ Documents Employer Confusion over C.58

Posted on April 24, 2007 by

Mark Hollmer at the Boston Business Journal has been doing some fine writing documenting the confusion afoot for businesses and consumers about the health reform law. His piece this week continues this effort and is worth a read — click … Continue reading →

Posted in Health Care Market, MA Health Reform | 1 Comment

Community Catalyst Report on Affordability

Posted on April 23, 2007 by

Click here for the final version of Community Catalyst’s national report on health insurance affordability. The substance of this report was used in the affordability process and discussion at the Connector Authority earlier this month.

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Click For A Better Budget

Posted on April 22, 2007 by

On Monday the House of Representatives begins its debate on the budget for FY 08. We have been working with a number of House members on critical amendments to the budget. The amendments restore funds for health reform outreach, improve … Continue reading →

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Disease/Care Management — Preliminary CMS Results Not Promising

Posted on April 22, 2007 by

For nearly a decade, lots of folks (we included) have been pointing to disease and care management strategies for the chronically ill as an important direction to improve quality of care and lower/control costs. Preliminary results are in for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Health Care Market, Health Care Quality, US health policy | Leave a comment