Health trends. Schools. Politics. Money. Trees. (& a bit of whatnot)

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