Schwimmer Script Blog
Waiting on Action to Save New Jersey’s Small Employer Health Insurance Market
It’s Open Enrollment season, and, as a small employer, I’m once again turning to my broker and hearing the bad news on premium increases and limited choices for health insurance coverage in New Jersey’s Small Employer market. While there has been great energy and focus on subsidies and ways to drive competition in the…Read More…
Join Our Call for an Integrated Facility License for Physical and Behavioral Health Care
Last week we sent a letter to New Jersey’s Acting Health Commissioner, Kaitlan Baston, M.D., urging her to move forward expeditiously with proposing regulations creating an integrated facility license that permits provision of physical and behavioral health care services in the same setting by the licensee. The integrated facility license and regulations are critical to…Read More…
NJ Saving Money and Improving Transparency — Perfect Together
For years, the Quality Institute has urged New Jersey to follow the lead of California’s Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and other large employers using Reference Based Pricing to shift care to lower cost providers and settings. One part of these designs is identifying common procedures and screenings that can be done safely in lower…Read More…
Quality Institute’s Work to Address Maternal Mental Health Approved for Use Nationwide
At the Quality Institute, we’re excited to report that the maternity-specific scenarios we created and piloted for Mental Health First Aid training have been approved for use around the country by The National Council for Mental Wellbeing. Last year, we brought together mental health experts, maternal health professionals, and people with lived experiences to develop…Read More…
Improving Health Care Is About Complexity — and Courage
On a recent walk, I listened to my new favorite health policy podcast, Tradeoffs, by journalist Dan Gorenstein. Through engaging interviews and deep dives, Gorenstein demystifies the complicated and costly world of health care. Think The Big Short, but for health care topics. Episodes range from States’ Uphill Battle to Stop Runaway Health Care…Read More…
Making Contraceptive Care More Accessible for All
At the Quality Institute, we believe everyone has the right to make safe, well-informed decisions about their reproductive health. For years, New Jersey has been a leader in supporting access to contraception and reproductive health care. But more must be done to not only increase awareness of these rights, but to make access more equitable….Read More…
Momentous Gift and Collaboration Will Advance Geriatric Care and Research in New Jersey
As a Trustee of Parker Health Group, it gives me great pride to share news about the organization’s recent charitable gift and collaboration with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Parker will give $18.8 million to the medical school to support research and education focused on senior care. Parker is a member of the Quality…Read More…
New CMS Model Provides New Jersey with Opportunity to Elevate Primary Care
Posted June 28, 2023New CMS Model Provides New Jersey with Opportunity to Elevate Primary Care
At the Quality Institute, we have long championed alternative payment models that support high-quality and comprehensive primary care. We have another opportunity to improve the health of our state now that the CMS Innovation Center has selected New Jersey to participate in a potentially transformative model of care. New Jersey is one of just…Read More…
Medicaid Payment Parity in Primary Care Improves Health Outcomes and Equity
For primary care, the state’s Medicaid program pays doctors, nurses, and midwives about half the rate that Medicare pays. The policy of paying half as much for the same service is inequitable and reduces access to high quality primary care for more than two million of our state’s residents. These lower reimbursement rates are…Read More…