The CT Mirror
The week of Jan. 27 through Jan. 31, 2014
To our readers: If you have signed up for insurance coverage through the new health act, what have your experiences been like? Good, bad, in-between, we’d like to hear about it. Please email your brief (no more than 500 words) accounts to health reporter Arielle Levin Becker – alevinbecker@ctmirror.org. Thank you!
This week —
Important health care trends. Re-examining two core aspects of education in Connecticut. Announcements from two Republicans who want to be governor. A look at Elizabeth Esty’s Obamacare votes. Election year tax breaks. A stand by women lawmakers on how colleges should handle sexual assault reports.
If you blinked this week, you missed something.
Here’s a rundown of some of the stories important to Connecticut residents that appeared in The Mirror:
Health
- Big changes are happening in hospital ownership. Democratic lawmakers say more oversight is needed.
- One Connecticut doctor calls the changes an insurer wants to make in the number of doctors in its network just the beginning, in fact: “the first gun fired on Fort Sumter.”
- There was a (perhaps) close-to-final-chapter on Anthem’s problems with signing up customers.
- Hartford residents will — finally — get a few days’ access to a free dental clinic.
Women
- The 54 women legislators called for changes in how sexual assaults at all colleges are handled.
- Our reporters show that the gender wage gap in Connecticut is the worse in the region.
Education
- After hearing wide-spread complaints about the new teacher evaluation system, officials scaled back some of the changes.
- The GOP and a teachers’ union leader want a public review of the new Common Core standards.
- A state report says UConn is getting less and less affordable for anyone other than high-income students.
Washington
- What does one make of Rep. Esty’s votes on Obamacare?
- The farm bill – which our delegation voted against — hurts needy people in Connecticut and across the U.S.
Environment
- Some people say utilities are going way overboard with cutting down trees.
Politics / Economy
- Republicans: Tom Foley declares for governor; Mark Boughton picks a woman running mate.
- Democratic Gov. and (undeclared) candidate Dannel Malloy hands out tax cuts, makes several other fiscal moves – and shows he learned a lesson from John Rowland in 1998.
- Is the state’s economy improving? The numbers are tricky.
AND – The governor asked for it – and he got it: No less than 1,240 pages of suggested changes in state regulations from Connecticut. We offer highlights .. and a link to the full list.
Look for full coverage in The CT Mirror next week of Wednesday’s opening of the 2014 session of the General Assembly.
Have a terrific weekend…
Jenifer Frank
Editor