UConn Health paid $192,500 to the former John Dempsey Hospital CEO who chose to resign because of a pending reorganization – a waste of resources, state auditors wrote in a report released Wednesday.
Arielle Levin Becker
Arielle Levin Becker covered health care for The Connecticut Mirror. She previously worked for The Hartford Courant, most recently as its health reporter, and has also covered small towns, courts and education in Connecticut and New Jersey. She was a finalist in 2009 for the prestigious Livingston Award for Young Journalists, a recipient of a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship and the third-place winner in 2013 for an in-depth piece on caregivers from the National Association of Health Journalists. She is a 2004 graduate of Yale University.
Posted inHealth
Five stories that can make 2016 a big year in health care
“I haven’t seen a time in my almost 10 years here in the state where there’s so much happening in health care,” says state Healthcare Advocate Victoria Veltri. Here are five health care stories to watch in 2016.
Posted inHealth
100,314 signed up for Obamacare coverage to start 2016
Just over 100,000 people are signed up to receive private insurance coverage as of Jan. 1through Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange. But exchange officials expressed concern that thousands of current customers could lose their coverage or the federal tax credits that discount their premiums.
Posted inHealth
Ethics office won’t call for Wade to recuse herself on Cigna deal
The Office of State Ethics is not calling for Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade to recuse herself from overseeing her agency’s review of Anthem’s proposal to buy Cigna, where Wade previously worked and her husband serves as an attorney. But Executive Director Carol Carson said the office has raised concerns.
Posted inHealth
In year three, slower traffic on first Obamacare deadline
At a key sign-up deadline, exchange officials say they’re focused on more than just whether people enroll.
Posted inHealth
St. Francis names new president, succeeding Dadlez
An ob-gyn who recently earned a master of business administration degree, John F. Rodis will be the first physician to lead the 118-year-old hospital.
Posted inHealth
Nine things all hospital patients should know
Patient safety experts say there are certain things all patients should know when they’re in the hospital. Here are a few.
Posted inHealth
2,200 exchange customers could lose discounts for not filing taxes
About 2,200 current customers of Connecticut’s health insurance exchange won’t be eligible for discounted coverage next year because they did not file tax returns for 2014 as required, exchange officials said Thursday.
Posted inHealth, Money
How each hospital fared under the budget deal
Hospitals will receive $164.3 million in state and federal funds under the budget deal legislators approved Tuesday, restoring some of the funding Gov. Dannel P. Malloy cut from hospitals in September, as well as millions more in overdue payments. Here’s who gets what.
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UnitedHealthcare to stop paying commissions for Obamacare exchange plans
UnitedHealthcare plans to stop paying commissions for insurance policies offered through exchanges beginning Jan. 1, a move brokers say signals the company’s retreat from Obamacare business.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Bill closing deficit, cutting business taxes heads to Malloy
The House of Representatives gave final legislative approval to a bill Tuesday night that closes the current budget deficit, mitigates bigger problems in the future, offers modest tax relief to businesses and restores a portion of funds cut this fall from hospitals and social services.
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Critics seek hard look at Yale–L+M deal, hospital market power
A group of unions and advocacy organizations are calling for state regulators to take a hard look at the growth in power and market concentration of large health systems in Connecticut – and what that means for patients – when they review Yale New Haven Health System’s proposed acquisition of New London’s Lawrence + Memorial Hospital.
Posted inEducation, Health
Helping children cope with tragedies that don’t make the news
“The truth is that right now, San Bernardino, Sandy Hook, they have to be mass to get our attention,” Nelba Márquez-Greene said as she introduced a mental health conference held in honor of her daughter. “Kids suffer from violence, experiences, all kinds of losses, every day. And we’re missing that because maybe their specific tragedy doesn’t make it on the news.”
Posted inHealth
To improve health, raise ‘insurance literacy,’ experts say
Studies show people would rather go to the gym or pay taxes than pick a health insurance plan. And experts say that’s a problem for policymakers trying to improve the health of the population and ensure that the expansion of insurance coverage under the federal health law does more than give a lot of people new insurance cards.
Posted inHealth
State approves Johnson Memorial Hospital sale
State regulators have approved plans for the parent company of St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford to acquire the financially struggling Johnson Memorial Medical Center.