The State of Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy (OHS) has announced the members of the new Cost Growth Benchmark Technical Team and Cost Growth Benchmark Stakeholder Advisory Board. The members include School of Pharmacy Henry A. Palmer Professor Marie Smith and the Dean\u2019s Advisory Board Member Ken Lalime, CEO of the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut. The new groups establish Connecticut\u2019s first healthcare cost growth benchmark as outlined by Governor Ned Lamont\u2019s Executive Order No. 5, an order that directs OHS to establish statewide healthcare cost growth and quality benchmarks and a primary care spending target.<\/p>\n
“Dr. Smith’s appointment is directly related to her OHS-funded grant expertise and policy recommendations to integrate clinical pharmacists with primary care and population teams,” says Phil Hritcko, Interim School of Pharmacy Dean. “We are tremendously proud to have a member of our faculty as well as one of our valued board members working to assist in making impactful and positive change in Connecticut’s health care system.”<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Smith has been deeply involved in understanding how the healthcare setting is currently set up and the issues we currently face,” says C. Michael White, Head of Pharmacy Practice. “She has worked tirelessly to find innovative solutions to these issues through her scholarship and service. This appointment is a testament to her expertise and commitment to the health of the citizens of the State of Connecticut.\u201d<\/p>\n
The appointment of Ken Lalime, CEO of the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut, ensures that the voice of over 6,700 dedicated healthcare professionals working in Connecticut-based community health centers and the nearly 400,000 patients served by them will be represented. Mr. Lalime also brings a comprehensive perspective on healthcare to the Board through his experience as an independent pharmacist, his work in hospital finance and operations and his knowledge in building the not-for-profit insurance company HealthyCT.<\/p>\n
Nichelle A. Mullins, President of the Board of Directors for the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut, added, \u201cKen will serve the residents of Connecticut well in his role on the advisory board. He has a deep and broad-based knowledge of the national and Connecticut healthcare landscapes. He understands the mechanics of healthcare and will use that knowledge to the benefit of all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The OHS Cost Growth Benchmark Technical Team includes experts who will directly engage with OHS and consulting experts on the creation of the annual healthcare cost growth benchmarks and primary care spending targets. It will get input from the Cost Growth Benchmark Stakeholder Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will ensure that additional stakeholders from across the healthcare landscape, from consumers to providers, employers and the healthcare industry have input and feedback into the discussion. Both groups will convene in the next month to begin discussion on their charters and governing bylaws.<\/p>\n
OHS Executive Director Vicki Veltri said, \u201cThe healthcare cost growth benchmark and the setting of primary care targets are important to improving the affordability of healthcare. In Massachusetts, establishing a healthcare benchmark saved consumers and the state about $5.5 billion in its rate of growth of expenditures over five years\u2014this is policy that works. The groups we\u2019ve convened are a strong balance of technical expertise and consumer\/stakeholder engagement and I thank the members for volunteering their time and talent to this work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cost Growth Benchmark Technical Team<\/strong><\/p>\n Melissa McCaw, MPA, Secretary, State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management Cost Growth Benchmark Stakeholder Advisory Board<\/strong><\/p>\n Reginald Eadie M.D., M.B.A., President, Chief Executive Officer, Trinity Health of New England Governor Lamont\u2019s Executive Order No. 5 directs OHS to:<\/p>\n Develop annual healthcare cost growth benchmarks by December 2020 for calendar years 2021-2025; Set targets for increased primary care spending as a percentage of total healthcare spending to reach 10 percent by 2025; Develop quality benchmarks across all public and private payers beginning in 2022, including clinical quality measures, over\/under utilization measures, and patient safety measures; Monitor and report annually on healthcare spending growth across public and private payers; Monitor accountable care organizations and the adoption of alternative payment models.<\/p>\n OHS is the state agency responsible under state statutes for developing and implementing a comprehensive and cohesive healthcare vision for the state, including a statewide cost containment strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The State of Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy (OHS) has announced the members of the new Cost Growth Benchmark Technical Team and Cost Growth Benchmark Stakeholder Advisory Board. The members include School of Pharmacy Henry A. Palmer Professor Marie Smith and the Dean\u2019s Advisory Board Member Ken Lalime, CEO of the Community Health Center Association […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":158595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1864],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2124],"class_list":["post-158577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pharm"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-04 17:09:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/158595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158577"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=158577"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=158577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nDeidre Gifford, MD, MPH, Commissioner, Department of Social Services
\nPaul Lombardo, A.S.A., M.A.A.A., Director, Life & Health Division, Connecticut Insurance Department
\nRae-Ellen Roy, Assistant Director of Health Policy and Benefits Division, Office of the State Comptroller
\nRebecca Andrews, M.D., FACP, American College of Physicians Connecticut Chapter Governor
\nPatricia Baker, President and CEO, CT Health Foundation
\nZack Cooper, PhD, MSc, Associate Professor of Public Health and Economics, Yale University
\nPaul Grady, Connecticut Business Group on Health
\nAngela Harris, Chair of Phillips Health Ministry, Phillips Metropolitan CME Church
\nLuis P\u00e9rez, LCSW, President and CEO, Mental Health Connecticut, Inc.<\/p>\n
\nKathleen Silard, R.N., President and CEO, Stamford Health
\nJanice Henry, Executive Director, Provider Solutions, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of CT
\nRobert Kosior, Senior Vice President and COO, ConnectiCare
\nRichard Searles, Managing Director, Merritt Healthcare Solutions
\nKen Lalime, CEO, Community Health Center Association of Connecticut<\/em>
\nMargaret Flinter, PhD, APRN, Senior Vice President and Clinical Director, Community Health Center, Inc.
\nKaren Gee, Senior Vice President and COO, OptumCare Network of Connecticut
\nMarie Smith, PharmD, FNAP, UConn School of Pharmacy<\/em>
\nTekisha Everette, PhD., Executive Director, Health Equity Solutions
\nPareesa Charmchi Goodwin, Executive Director, Connecticut Oral Health Initiative
\nHoward Forman, MD, MBA, FACR, Professor of Diagnostic Radiology, Public Health, Management, and Economics, Yale University
\nNancy Yedlin, MPH, Vice President, Donaghue Foundation
\nFiona Mohring, MPH, SPHR, Director, Health & Group Benefits, Stanley Black & Decker
\nLori Pasqualini, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer, Ability Beyond
\nSal Luciano, President, Connecticut AFL-CIO
\nKathy Flaherty, JD, Executive Director, Connecticut Legal Rights Project
\nHector Glynn, MSW, COO, The Village for Families and Children
\nRick Melita, Director, Service Employees International Union Connecticut State Council<\/p>\n