Assessment of HUSKY, Connecticut's Medicaid Managed Care Program
January 2007
Connecticut Association of Health Plans
Lewin assessed the performance of Connecticut's HUSKY Program, a capitated Medicaid initiative operated through contracts with four health plans. The study was coordinated through the Connecticut Association of Health Plans. The study's purpose is to provide objective information about the HUSKY Program and to compare the policy alternatives of retaining HUSKY versus adopting a "managed fee-for-service" model of coverage. The study finds the HUSKY Program to be successful (above national Medicaid managed care norms) on several key fronts -- delivering large-scale cost savings to taxpayers, fostering access to physician and preventive care services (e.g., EPSDT), and achieving high rates of enrollee satisfaction. The study concludes with a broad set of policy recommendations to strengthen HUSKY going forward, including a sharp increase in underlying Medicaid physician/dentist fee schedules to address the core problem that many "front-line" practitioners are reluctant to serve the State's poverty population.