Connecticut has made dramatic advances in providing help for children exposed to trauma, in some cases, emerging as a national leader in addressing a problem that research has linked to significant mental and physical health consequences. But more work is needed, according to a report released Tuesday.
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, Money, Politics
GOP calls for bipartisan talks, labor concessions, to reverse hospital cuts
Minority Republicans in the state legislature called Tuesday for bipartisan negotiations to reverse last week’s $190 million cut to hospitals. And House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, also called for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to approach state employee unions for concessions.
Posted inHealth
Premiums grow modestly for employer insurance coverage, but deductibles grow faster
The cost of employer-sponsored insurance premiums grew by 4 percent this year, continuing a trend of relatively modest growth, but the share of medical costs patients pay when they get care continued to rise far faster, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust.
Posted inHealth
St. Mary’s Hospital to join national chain, St. Francis
St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury announced plans to join a national nonprofit Catholic health care chain that will soon include St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, the latest in a flurry of moves by Connecticut hospitals to join larger networks.
Posted inHealth
Votto retiring as Hospital for Special Care CEO; Ricci to ascend
Dr. John Votto, the longtime chief executive of New Britain’s Hospital for Special Care, plans to retire Oct. 1. He will be succeeded by Lynn Ricci, the organization’s senior vice president and chief operating officer.
Posted inHealth
GAO: Still work to do on Obamacare state exchange IT systems
More than a year after launching, state-run health insurance exchanges, including Connecticut’s, still hadn’t fully completed key information technology functions, federal auditors said in a report released Wednesday.
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Census: CT uninsured rate down to 6.9 percent
The U.S. Census Bureau’s estimates released Wednesday indicate that the uninsured rate fell in all 50 states and the District of Columbia from 2013 to 2014. Connecticut was one of six states that, along with Washington D.C., had an uninsured rate at or below 7 percent.
Posted inHealth, Money
Few who lost Medicaid have purchased insurance
When state lawmakers scaled back Medicaid eligibility for thousands of low-income parents to help balance this year’s budget, proponents argued the parents could buy deeply discounted coverage through the state’s health insurance exchange. But so far, fewer than 20 percent of those who lost coverage at the start of this month have signed up.
Posted inHealth
Buy your own health insurance? Here’s how your premiums will change next year
Insurance prices will change in 2016 for the nearly 170,000 Connecticut residents who buy their own health plans. So what will people be paying? Here’s a look, broken down in two ways.
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Mental health agencies take on larger role coordinating all care
The fitness group walked in loops on the path with 51-year-old member Cindy as its unofficial cheerleader, But this is not a typical exercise group. It’s part of a statewide effort to bring together mental and physical health care for thousands of people with serious mental illness, chronic medical conditions and high health care costs. Second of two stories.
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Anthem individual rates to rise 2.4%, ConnectiCare’s by 8.5%
Premiums for the 55,000 people who buy Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans through the state’s individual market will rise by an average of 2.4 percent next year, while ConnectiCare Insurance Company’s 34,400 customers will see an average rate hike of 8.5 percent.
Posted inHealth
In some primary care offices: The social worker will see you now
For years, health care experts have recommended better connecting primary care and mental health. Efforts to do so have lagged, but some experts now say they see momentum picking up. First of two stories.
Posted inHealth, Money
Obamacare and hospital finances, in nine charts
What really happened to hospitals since Obamacare’s 2010 passage? To find out, we looked at recently released financial data from the 2014 fiscal year, the first after the major coverage expansion provisions of the health law took effect.
Posted inHealth
Uptick in denials for home nursing care worries families, advocates
Families and advocates say they are concerned by a recent sharp rise in the rate of denials for extended home nursing care that helps families caring for young people with significant medical needs.
Posted inHealth
Regulator lowers most proposed health insurance rate hikes
Most insurance companies selling health plans in the state’s individual market will get to raise customers’ premiums in 2016, but not by as much as they proposed, and one major carrier will have to lower its rates, according to decisions released by the Connecticut Insurance Department Saturday.