As financial experts examine the impact of the weekend downgrade of the federal government’s credit rating, ranging from the reaction of foreign markets to the effect on mortgage rates, states also are wondering whether they will be adversely affected as well, John Gramlich says at Stateline.org. And the answer isn’t clear. Moody’s Investors Service warned […]
August 8, 2011
Posted inNews
Malloy minimizes effect of U.S. credit downgrade on Connecticut
The market tanked today, a drop that many analysts attributed to the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. But Gov. Dannel P. Malloy took a more bullish view with a statement issued this afternoon: “While Standard & Poor’s downgrade of our country’s debt is clearly not good news, we in Connecticut have a few things […]
Posted inHealth
Primary care doctors sue over Medicare rates
Six primary care doctors in Georgia have filed a lawsuit aimed at changing the way Medicare payments to doctors are established, Joe Eaton reports for The Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News. At the heart of the dispute is a little-known body known as the Specialty Society Relative Value Update Committee, or RUC. The committee, […]
Posted inNews
Nursing home cut a lesson in health-care complexity
Federal officials say a plan to cut nearly $4 billion in Medicare funding to nursing homes is just a correction to curb unanticipated overspending. Critics say it’s a wrongheaded move that could force staff cuts and lead some homes to close. And even some experts who say the cut is justified worry about its consequences […]
Posted inNews
Malloy hedges on budget cuts as union voting nears the end
When Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was announcing budget cuts in mid-July that would close prisons, courts, group homes, and agency offices, cut dozens of academic and social service programs, and eliminate 6,500 jobs, he said he couldn’t be dissuaded by union leaders scrambling to breathe new life into a dead concession package. Connecticut’s chief executive […]
Posted inNews
With other issues pressing, Congress has more debt debate ahead
WASHINGTON–With a debt deal done and default averted, Congress can move on to other pressing issues now, right? There’s certainly a crushing legislative agenda awaiting lawmakers when they return from their August break: Rewriting No Child Left Behind. Finalizing a multi-year transportation bill. And finding a long-term fix, instead of an emergency patch, to keep […]
Posted inNews
Study: Connecticut one of few states spending above pre-recession levels
Connecticut is one of just seven states that has elevated spending above the levels budgeted before the recent recession, after adjustments for inflation and federal assistance are made, according to a recent study by a nonprofit fiscal policy think-tank. But the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities also reported that Connecticut has made […]