“When I had cancer, I got cards and flowers,” Karen Kangas’ sign reads. “When I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I got no cards and a pink slip.” It’s part of an exhibit aimed at reframing the stigma people with mental illness face as discrimination.
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 inNews
Screenings can identify depression in teens, but they are rarely used
When his office began using a questionnaire to screen adolescents for depression, Dr. Robert Dudley was skeptical. “What’s the chance these nine silly questions are going to pick something up?” he wondered. “I’ve known this kid forever. I’ll know if they’re having troubles or not.” Then he started using the questionnaire. The number of patients […]
Posted inNews
Hearing evokes varying views of mental illness
One of Jennifer Maksel’s sons escaped the classroom where a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School. But it was her older son that Maksel wanted to talk about Tuesday. “I need help for him,” she told legislators during a hearing on mental health held in response to the Sandy Hook shooting. Maksel’s son […]
Posted inHealth
Physician groups weigh in on gun bans, mental health policies
The group representing Connecticut emergency room doctors has endorsed a ban on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and is calling for financial and policy support for mental health services. Dr. Karen Jubanyik, president of the Connecticut College of Emergency Physicians, said the best argument for banning the weapons was the shooting at […]
Posted inHealth, Money
Child advocate: 94 children killed by guns since 2001
Ninety-four children were killed by gunshot wounds from 2001 through 2012, and 924 were injured by guns in that time, according to a report released Monday by the Office of the Child Advocate. Twenty of the 94 children who died were first graders killed last month at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The deaths of the […]
Posted inNews
As state ages, governor presents a plan for expanding home care
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy this morning will unveil a plan to dramatically shift the way seniors and people with disabilities receive services by increasing the availability of home care while offering funds for the nursing home industry to eliminate beds and change their business models, according to documents obtained by The Mirror. The effort has […]
Posted inNews
Supporters say court-ordered mental-health care could help — but not stop extreme acts of violence
New York has Kendra’s Law, named for a woman pushed in front of a train by a man with untreated schizophrenia. Laura’s Law in California was named for a college student working in a behavioral health clinic when a client shot and killed her. Forty-four states have laws allowing for court-ordered outpatient treatment of certain […]
Posted inNews
Post-Newtown, advocates hope for clarity on mental health coverage
It wasn’t one of the more headline-grabbing of the president’s announcements made this week in response to the shooting at Newtown’s Sandy Hook Elementary School, an executive order committing to finalize regulations for the 2008 mental health parity law. But it was a big deal for people like Charles Ingoglia, who say the lack of […]
Posted inHealth
St. Francis in talks to join national for-profit network
St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center’s parent company announced Wednesday that it is in talks to join Ascension Health Care Network, a for-profit affiliate of the nation’s largest Catholic health system. St. Francis is currently nonprofit and independently run. Ascension Health Alliance, the largest Catholic health system in the country, also includes St. Vincent’s Medical […]
Posted inNews
State reversing mental health cuts — for this year, at least
State officials have reversed plans to cut more than $7 million in funding from mental health and addiction programs this fiscal year. The cuts, made late last year in response to a budget shortfall, had led the nonprofit mental health and addiction service providers that contract with the state to make plans that included layoffs […]
Posted inHealth
Feds approve three new health-care coordination groups
Three Connecticut health care groups are among 106 that received federal approval to operate networks of health care providers that coordinate to improve the quality of care for Medicare patients. The networks are known as accountable care organizations and are a key initiative of the federal health reform law. The goal is to get doctors, […]
Posted inNews
Guns, minimum wage, assisted suicide, flu shots, driver’s licenses, drug testing, pets among 2013 bills
Legislators have wasted no time filing bills for the legislative session that began today. Some are likely to be central to the session, like Senate Bill 1, “An act concerning the protection of children, families and other individuals from violence” (the language so far is vague): amend the general statutes “to protect children, families and […]
Posted inHealth
Dental association says more poor kids, adults getting care
There’s little dispute that it’s gotten significantly easier for poor children in Connecticut to see a dentist since 2008, the year the state settled a longstanding class-action lawsuit over access to dental care. The number of dental providers participating in Medicaid has more than quadrupled since then, and the number of patients under 21 receiving […]
Posted inHealth
State cuts medical home incentives for health centers
The state is trying to encourage health care providers to take a more active role in Medicaid patients’ care, but as part of a budget cutting move, officials have cut off incentive payments for community health centers that do so. The $900,000 cut eliminates money that was intended to compensate health centers for serving as […]
Posted inHealth
Herbert leaves exchange board to consult for insurer
Former ConnectiCare CEO Mickey Herbert has resigned from the board overseeing the state’s health insurance exchange to take a job consulting for the insurer Harvard Pilgrim Health Care as it attempts to enter the state’s market. Herbert was one of three former insurance executives serving on the board of the exchange, the marketplace that will […]