Delay in HUSKY Changes Urged
by Christine Stuart | March 24, 2008 9:59 AM
Posted to Health Care
| State Capitol
Despite Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s threat to veto a bill that would delay the July 1, 2008 changes to the HUSKY insurance plan for more than 300,000 low-income families in the state, a diverse group of organizations is urging her to delay those changes and other changes scheduled for April 1 until 2010.
In a letter sent to Rell last week the organizations, including Connecticut’s child advocate and health care advocate, asked the governor to stabilize the plan and “take the time necessary to study the various delivery systems already or soon to be in effect.”
Marilyn Dunkley of Middletown, who is on the HUSKY program along with her six children, said in a phone interview Friday that the program has been “messed up from the beginning.” She said if state officials think it’s such great insurance they should try it for a month and see how difficult it is to see a doctor.
Dunkley said part of the problem is her doctors don’t even know if they’ll be accepting the new insurance. That isn’t Karen Smith’s problem.
Smith of East Hartford said her son’s doctors warned them they won’t be accepting the Health Net Healthy Options plan as of April 1. She decided to call the Department of Social Services and enroll in one of the other MCO’s still participating in HUSKY.
When Smith told her son’s occupational therapist of the change, “they were concerned because they had received no notice from Husky of any impending changes.”
“They wanted to wait until Husky sent information out to providers before booking any more appointments,” Smith said.
“Although there was supposed to be a smooth transition of changes to service, my son lost service the first day of his coverage under Anthem Blue Care Family Plan,” which is the MCO Smith switched to in order to comply with the April 1, 2008 changes.
“Already, some patients are having trouble seeing their doctors because of concern by these providers about the ability to reimbursed to be reimbursed,” the letter says.
As of April 1 contracts with two of the four Managed Care Organizations currently providing administrative services will terminate, which means HUSKY patients will have to select or be assigned to one of the two remaining MCO’s or chose a fee for service plan administered by the Department of Social Services.
Patients in the HUSKY program have been moved to three different primary care providers in the past six months because Rell decided in November 2007 to dismiss some of the MCO’s. The organizations asking Rell to delay yet another change, said “The April 1 changes in particular will cause substantial, though unavoidable, confusion.”
“Families in HUSKY and their health care providers should not be required to go through two transitions in three months,” they said.
Under Rell’s proposal, everyone in the HUSKY program would be moved from their current healthcare provider network back to a MCO on July 1, 2008.
Comments (1)
Posted by: JRS | March 25, 2008 9:53 AM
Maybe people on HUSKY should just be happy that they are provided insurance at little or no cost, and stop complaining when changes are made. If you don't like the program, get your own insurance like the rest of us.