THE OFFICE OF HEALTH STRATEGY RELEASES ANNUAL REPORTS ON COST GROWTH BENCHMARK, PRIMARY CARE SPENDING TARGET AND QUALITY BENCHMARKS
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2024
(Hartford, CT) – The Office of Health Strategy (OHS) released a series of reports which analyze changes in Connecticut’s healthcare spending and quality between 2021 and 2022. The series includes the second annual Cost Growth Benchmark and The Primary Care Spend Target reports, as well as the first reported results for the 2022 Quality Benchmarks.
The results show that while many health insurers and provider networks worked to rein in spending in 2022, the state’s total healthcare spending increased by 4.5% to $36.4 billion. Accounting for population growth, the cost growth per person was 3.4%, above the 3.2% benchmark the program established. This growth was driven by increases in retail pharmacy and hospital outpatient expenses.
“These annual reports provide us with a reliable assessment of how our state is spending on health care so that we can identify how to make healthcare more affordable, and improve care quality and outcomes in Connecticut,” said Dr. Deidre Gifford, OHS Executive Director.
Although healthcare costs grew faster than the benchmark, growth notably slowed from the 6% growth seen in 2020-2021.
Investment in primary care can lower healthcare costs, reduce health disparities, and enhance quality of care. The new reports show that Connecticut spent approximately $1.05 billion on primary care in 2022, up only slightly from primary care spending in 2021.
This is the second annual Cost Growth Benchmark Report and Primary Care Spending Target Report, and the first time the program is also reporting on healthcare quality. High quality healthcare prevents diseases, manages chronic illness, and advances health equity. Quality care is essential to community health and there is good news in Connecticut’s Quality Benchmark report, which assesses performance against three benchmarks: Asthma Medication Ratio, Controlling High Blood Pressure, and Hemoglobin A1c Control for Patients with Diabetes.
- For the commercial market, Connecticut met the benchmarks for all three measures.
- For the Medicare Advantage market, quality benchmarks were met for the two applicable measures.
- For the Medicaid market, all the benchmarks were met, except for the age 5-18 Asthma Medication Ratio measure.
These reports are required annually by Connecticut General Statute 19a-754h.
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Media Contact:
Tina Kumar-Hyde
Director of Communications, Connecticut Office of Health Strategy
Tina.Hyde@ct.gov
860.969.7228 (Cell)