The state has secured a $6.7 million federal grant to help create a health insurance exchange, the marketplace for purchasing coverage that must be operating by 2014 as part of federal health reform. In addition, officials announced that the first meeting of the quasi-public Connecticut Health Care Exchange will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, […]
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.
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Auditors say investigations by hospital oversight office ‘not adequate’
The state Office of Health Care Access failed to collect nearly $47,000 in payments from hospitals and did not properly investigate consumer complaints about hospital billing, according to a report by state auditors released this week. In comments included in the report, the office, known as OHCA, disputed the findings related to billing complaint investigations […]
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New England among the costliest for individual health plans
Premiums for individual market health plans vary widely across the country, with Connecticut and New England among the most expensive, according to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The average monthly per-person premium nationwide last year was $215, but the costs varied significantly between states. In Vermont and Massachusetts, premiums averaged more than $400 […]
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Primary care doctors sue over Medicare rates
Six primary care doctors in Georgia have filed a lawsuit aimed at changing the way Medicare payments to doctors are established, Joe Eaton reports for The Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News. At the heart of the dispute is a little-known body known as the Specialty Society Relative Value Update Committee, or RUC. The committee, […]
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Nursing home cut a lesson in health-care complexity
Federal officials say a plan to cut nearly $4 billion in Medicare funding to nursing homes is just a correction to curb unanticipated overspending. Critics say it’s a wrongheaded move that could force staff cuts and lead some homes to close. And even some experts who say the cut is justified worry about its consequences […]
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Taking care of cancer patients once the disease is gone
Keith Bellizzi remembers that day in the hospital well. Not long before, his goal had been to make lots of money in business, and he was on the way to doing it. Then, at 24, he was diagnosed with kidney and testicular cancer. “It redefined who I was as a person, and it gave me […]
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St. Francis, Johnson Memorial to explore affiliation
The parent companies of Hartford’s St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center and Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs are exploring an affiliation, the latest in a series of possible hospital mergers and alliances in the state. According to a statement released by the two organizations, the proposed affiliation would “help maintain an inpatient hospital presence […]
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Walmart, Dunkin’ Donuts top employers of HUSKY recipients
Walmart, Dunkin’ Donuts, Stop & Shop, McDonald’s, and the First Student transportation company employ the most workers whose families rely on the state’s HUSKY health insurance program for low-income children and their parents, according to a report by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research. The report identified the 25 companies with the most employees who […]
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DPH: Funeral home licensing won’t be cut
The state Department of Public Health says it will not stop licensing funeral homes, funeral directors or embalmers, despite announcing plans earlier in the week to do so. On Monday, the department released a statement detailing its plans for cutting $20.6 million over two years. It said that, “DPH will no longer license funeral homes, […]
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Health Center NICU transfer gets green light
Plans to transfer operation of the neonatal intensive care unit from UConn’s John Dempsey Hospital to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center received final approval this week, clearing the way forward for a key piece of the $864 million plan to expand and renovate the UConn Health Center. After the transfer, which is expected to take place […]
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Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan premiums being lowered for most members
The state has received federal approval to set a flat premium for its Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, allowing anyone who qualifies to get coverage for $381 a month, the governor’s office announced Tuesday. The new rate will take effect Sept. 1. Currently, the premiums vary by age, with rates as high as $893 a month. […]
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Health insurance explained, and animated
If you’ve been meaning to learn about health insurance regulation but were turned off by the lack of animated options, the Oregon Insurance Division has just the explainer for you. The 7-minute video provides the division’s answers to why insurance costs so much, how premium costs are set, how the insurance division regulates health insurance, […]
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As Congress sharpens its knife, advocates urge funding of heat aid
Connecticut lawmakers and social service advocates on Tuesday urged Congress to preserve funding for an energy assistance program that helps more than 113,000 low-income state households heat their homes in the winter. Such appeals could become commonplace in the coming weeks, as the fallout of a deal to cut $550 billion in federal domestic discretionary […]
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DPH to end licensing for funeral homes, embalmers, some clinics
As part of a plan to cut $20.6 million in two years, the state Department of Public Health will stop licensing funeral homes, funeral directors and embalmers, college infirmaries, and certain types of clinics, the department announced Monday. The cuts stem from a budget gap created when state employee unions rejected a concession deal aimed […]
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With future uncertain, Hartford celebrates Medicare’s birthday
Medicare turns 46 Saturday, and on Friday, Hartford Hospital and Aetna commemorated the role of the two city institutions in launching the program, with an event that was part history lesson, part appreciation for the insurance program and, at least for the politicians invited, part opportunity to bash proposals to change Medicare. Aetna was an […]