CHA Continues To Advocate for Plan To Redesign Medicaid To Address Medicaid Underpayment and Invest in Local Communities

The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) continues to engage the Lamont administration, state officials, community partners, and lawmakers on redesigning the Medicaid program to address Medicaid underpayment and tackle the root-cause issues that drive poor health and health disparities.

Connecticut’s low Medicaid reimbursement rates inhibit access to care, drive up commercial costs, and strain healthcare providers.  At the same time, residents and communities across the state are struggling to prevent and manage chronic disease and improve health.  The Medicaid program can and should work better for the patients and communities it supports. 

Connecticut hospitals have united with a coalition of community partners to advocate for reforms that reimagine Medicaid.  A central aim of these reforms is to invest in initiatives that prevent chronic disease and improve community well-being.  Addressing social, economic, and environmental drivers of health — like stable employment, housing security, environmental safety, and access to nutritious food — fosters healthier families for generations to come.  Connecticut hospitals and health systems, in collaboration with community partners, have developed a comprehensive framework to achieve these goals by strengthening and expanding multi-sector health partnerships.  This framework builds upon ongoing efforts to develop and implement innovative programs that connect individuals and families throughout the state with vital resources and services.

A major feature of this redesign is measuring and rewarding improvements in healthcare outcomes and long-term prevention outcomes, including lower rates of chronic disease and behavioral health conditions.  A central principle of this reform is to reinvest 100% of the resulting savings to further strengthen the care delivery system and to expand the scope and scale of community-led health and well-being initiatives.

The three cornerstones of CHA’s Medicaid redesign framework are:

1. Address Medicaid hospital underpayment: Increase reimbursement so that payments cover the cost of providing care and provide for annual trend updates that keep pace with the rising cost of care
2. Engage multi-sector health partnerships: Build on community partnerships to co-design ways to best use Medicaid funds to create community-directed investments that reward positive health outcomes
3. Establish a regional investment and accountability financing model: Establish a financing and accountability framework that provides substantial and sustained new investment funding for the work of hospitals and the multi-sector health partnerships in which they participate

The role of healthcare is progressing beyond treating individuals just when they are sick to addressing the structural factors that shape an individual’s health.  CHA has been encouraging the state to pursue a proactive Medicaid reform strategy that prioritizes preventive, community-based interventions.  Upfront investments in community health reduce the need for acute medical care in the future, driving down healthcare expenses over the long term.

Click here to learn more about CHA’s Medicaid redesign framework.