Healthcare Benchmark Initiative
Connecticut doctor

Improving health, reducing costs

The Healthcare Benchmark Initiative plays a key role in improving the health of CT residents. It helps:
  • All residents access affordable, high-quality healthcare
  • Enhance spending on primary care, allowing for creative solutions to address healthcare needs
  • The state lower healthcare spending growth

About the initiative

The Healthcare Benchmark Initiative involves people from across the healthcare landscape to create a healthcare cost growth benchmark. The initiative provides data to legislators and policymakers to improve healthcare quality and spending in Connecticut.

These efforts focus on:
  • Setting annual healthcare cost growth targets for 2021-2025
  • Increasing primary care spending as a percentage of total healthcare expenditure, with a goal of of 10% by 2025
  • Providing healthcare quality benchmarks for all public and private payers
  • Reporting healthcare spending growth
  • Monitoring care organizations and different payment models

Program resources

Public hearing agendas are posted at least 24 hours prior to the hearing. Transcripts and recordings are posted within seven days of the hearing.
Cost growth benchmark public hearings 
Attend these meetings to learn about projects and to share your views as permitted.
Quality benchmarks public hearings 
Learn about upcoming meetings and watch past presentations.
Reports and updates 
Read Healthcare Benchmark Initiative reports and findings.
Submit comments 
Email your thoughts about any scheduled or recent hearing topic. They can become part of the public record.
icon

Legislation

Governor Lamont signed Executive Order #5 in January, 2020, charging the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) to benchmark total healthcare expenditures growth in the state. During the 2022 legislative session, C.G.S. §217-223 of Public Act 22-118 essentially codified Executive Order No. 5’s provision into law. OHS carried out the initiative with the support of a Technical Team as the key deliberating body and a Stakeholder Advisory Board.

Healthcare Benchmark Initiative reports

Healthcare Benchmark Initiative leadership

Stakeholder advisory board 

The Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB) members are consumers, providers, employers, and health plan carriers who provided input and feedback to the Technical Team.

Steering committee 

The Healthcare Benchmark Initiative Steering Committee are senior stakeholders, subject matter experts, state agency executives, and consumer advocates.

Technical team 

The Technical Team is no longer active. The team consulted with OHS on the creation of the annual healthcare cost growth, quality benchmarks, and primary care spending targets.

Cost growth benchmark values

Connecticut's healthcare cost growth benchmark is 2.9 percent annually

The technical team recommended that the cost growth benchmark use a 20/80 weighting of the growth in CT potential gross state product and the growth of CT median income. The resulting value of the benchmark was 2.9%.

2021 (Base Value + 0.5%): 3.4%

2022 (Base Value + 0.3%): 3.2%

2023 - 2025 (Base Value): 2.9%

Primary care spending target

The primary care spending target is increasing from 8.5 percent in 2024 to 10 percent in 2025
Connecticut targets increasing primary care spending as a percentage of total health care expenditure to 10% by 2025.

Calendar year 2021: 5.0%

Calendar year 2022: 5.3%

Calendar year 2023: 6.9%

Calendar year 2024: 8.5%

Calendar year 2025: 10.0%

2022-2025 Quality benchmark measures

Quality Benchmark Measure
Asthma Medication Ratio

Steward 1
NCQA

Description
Percentage of patients 5–64 years of age who were identified as having persistent asthma and had a ratio of controller medications to total asthma medications of 0.50 or greater during the measurement year

Levels of Measurement
State, Market, Payer, Advanced Network


Quality Benchmark Measure
Controlling High Blood Pressure

Steward 1
NCQA

Description
Percentage of patients 18 to 85 years of age who had a diagnosis of hypertension and whose blood pressure was adequately controlled (<140/90 mmHg) during the measurement year

Levels of Measurement
State, Market, Payer, Advanced Network


Quality Benchmark Measure
Glycemic Status Assessment for Patients with Diabetes (formerly Hemoglobin A1c [HbA1c] Control for Patients with Diabetes: HbA1c Poor Control)

Steward 1
NCQA

Description
Percentage of patients 18-75 years of age with diabetes (types 1 and 2) whose most recent glycemic status (hemoglobin a1c [HbA1c] or glucose management indicator [GMI]) was >9.0% during the measurement year.

Levels of Measurement
State, Market, Payer, Advanced Network
Quality Benchmark Measure
Child and Adolescent WellCare Visits

Steward 1
NCQA

Description
Percentage of members 3–21 years of age who had at least one comprehensive well-care visit with a primary care provider or an OB/GYN practitioner during the measurement year

Levels of Measurement
State, Market, Payer, Advanced Network


Quality Benchmark Measure
Follow-up After Emergency Department (ED) Visit for Mental Illness (7-day)

Steward 1
NCQA

Description
Percentage of ED visits for members 6 years of age and older with a principal diagnosis of mental illness or intentional self-harm, who had a follow-up visit for mental illness within 7 days of the ED visit

Levels of Measurement
State, Market, Payer, Advanced Network


Quality Benchmark Measure
Follow-up After Hospitalization Visit for Mental Illness (7-day)

Steward 1
NCQA

Description
Percentage of discharges for members 6 years of age and older who were hospitalized for treatment of selected mental health disorders and who had an outpatient visit, an intensive outpatient encounter, or partial hospitalization with a mental health practitioner within 7 days of discharge

Levels of Measurement
State, Market, Payer, Advanced Network


Quality Benchmark Measure
Obesity Equity Measure

Steward 1
CT OHS (using data from BRFSS)

Description
A ratio of statewide obesity rates for the Black, non-Hispanic population and the White, non-Hispanic population

Levels of Measurement
State