New director to oversee Conn. health innovation - WTNH

Connecticut Department of Social Services website ct.gov/dss.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Medicaid expert has been tapped to lead Connecticut's effort to transform health care delivery and contain costs in the state within the next five years.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman says Mark Schaefer, who has overseen various Medicaid projects for the state Department of Social Services, will become the new director of healthcare innovation on Jan. 1.

Schaefer will oversee the day-to-day management of implementing Connecticut's State Innovation Model Initiative, part of a federal initiative under the Affordable Care Act.

Connecticut has received a $2.8 million grant to produce a state health care innovation plan and a model for reforming payments and delivering health care that will reach 80 percent of state residents within three to five years.

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