I-Team In-Depth

Can Independent Primary Care Doctors Survive Dominance of Hospital Health Systems?

By |

Every day, Dr. Leslie Miller of Fairfield thinks about selling her practice to a hospital health system. “Everybody who is in this environment thinks every day of throwing in the towel and joining a hospital,” said Miller, a sole practitioner in primary care for 20 years. “The business side is the problem,” she said, referring to expensive and time-consuming requirements of medical insurance and government regulations. Dr. Khuram Ghumman took the unusual route of working in a hospital system first, then going into private primary care practice because he objects to the “corporatization” of health care. He said conflicts of interest can arise if an owner and its employed physicians have different objectives.

I-Team In-Depth

Report: Private Insurers Deny More Claims For Mental Health Care

By |

The rate of denials by the state’s largest managed care insurers of requests for mental health services rose nearly 70 percent between 2013 and 2014, with an average of about one in 12 requests for prescribed treatment initially rejected, a new state report shows. At the same time, the proportion of enrollees in the largest managed care companies who received outpatient or emergency department care for mental health doubled, from an average of 9.4 percent in 2013 to 20.8 percent in 2014, according to an analysis of the 2015 Consumer Report Card on Health Insurance Carriers in Connecticut, issued by the state Insurance Department. The percentage of members who received inpatient mental health care also doubled, although it remained low, with most companies providing inpatient services for less than .5 percent of all enrollees. The rise in rejections by the state’s 10 largest indemnity managed care companies – private health insurers, not including Medicare or Medicaid — came as state officials focused on improving mental health outreach and treatment, in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting in December 2012. The managed care organizations include companies such as Aetna Life Insurance Co., Anthem Health Plans, CIGNA Health and Life Insurance Co., and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co.

Affordable Care Act

State Residents Not Using Free Preventive Care, Worried About Costs, Survey Finds

By |

Kathy Navaroli, 50, of Windsor, hadn’t seen a primary care doctor in years when she decided to go for a physical this summer. She didn’t ask about preventive care screenings, such as a mammogram or Pap test, in part because she worried they might involve an insurance co-pay or deductible. Her household income is below $30,000 a year. “I got a physical, they did some blood work, and that was it,” she said. Kerrishian McCants, 31, of Hartford, a mother of four, has a family history of diabetes and high blood pressure, but has not discussed those possible risks with her doctor.

Disparities

Hospitals Required To Tell Patients Of Observation Care Status

By |

Starting Wednesday, a new state law requires Connecticut hospitals to tell all patients when they are being kept in the hospital for observation instead of being admitted and to warn them about the financial consequences. Anyone who goes to the hospital can be placed on observation status, so that doctors can determine what’s wrong, and decide whether the patient is sick enough to be admitted or well enough to go home. Observation patients may receive diagnostic tests, medications, some treatment, and other outpatient services. Depending on their insurance, they can be charged a share of the cost. “They are in a regular hospital bed in a hospital room, getting a hospital level of care, and they have no way of knowing they were not admitted,” said Rep. Susan Johnson, a sponsor of the legislation and co-chair of the General Assembly’s Public Health Committee.

I-Team In-Depth

Hospital Mergers Raise Concerns Over Patient Costs

By |

Hospital administrators in Connecticut who have been involved in the unprecedented streak of mergers and consolidations often tout the financial benefits and efficiencies of such moves. But as the number of independent hospitals in the state dwindles – with more than half of the 29 acute-care hospitals now operating in networks with other hospitals or out-of-state partners – experts and advocates worry that the consolidations will reduce competition in the market and give hospitals more leverage to raise prices.  Adding to their concerns is a proposal by a private company to convert four non-profit hospitals to for-profit entities. Several studies, as well as data from the federal Medicare program, suggest that mergers and for-profit conversions may lead to higher prices. But the state has yet to study the impact of mergers on patient pricing, and has no requirement that hospitals try to hold patient charges steady after a merger or conversion. The state also has no comprehensive blueprint guiding hospital configuration or limiting the number of takeovers or networks it will allow.

Women's Health

Dangers Of Overtreatment Focus Of March 18 Foundation Forum

By |

Why does the U.S. health care system rank in the bottom third of developed nations, even though we spend twice as much as any other country? According to Shannon Brownlee, senior vice president of the Lown Institute and author of the book, “Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer,” the crux of the problem lies within the doctor-patient relationship. “We have a dysfunctional system in this country that is largely focused on doing more,” Brownlee said. “In our headlong rush to do a lot, fast, we forget about talking to patients  — about what their prospects are, what the treatment options are, what the side effects are . .