Bruce Mayer never had grand ambitions of becoming a union boss, as he calls it. But since the research biologist was elected president of the new faculty union at the UConn Health Center in January, he’s gotten something of a crash course in labor relations. “Anything that can happen to your union will, in the […]
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
Malloy signs “most favored nation” ban
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has signed a bill prohibiting the use of “most favored nation” clauses in contracts between health insurers and providers, making Connecticut the latest of more than a dozen states to restrict or ban the practice. A most favored nation clause requires a hospital or health care provider to give an insurance […]
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Concession deal is dead, but SustiNet rumors live on
The tentative concession deal negotiated between Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration and state employee unions is dead. But suspicions it was linked the SustiNet plan to create state-run insurance live on, complicating chances of striking a new deal to avert up to 6,500 layoffs. One element of the rumors about SustiNet is easy to debunk: […]
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Health insurance exchanges, explained
The health insurance exchange is one of the most important concepts in federal health reform, and Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News offers a helpful primer on the exchanges, with details on how they are expected to work, who will be allowed to buy coverage through them, and what flexibility states have in designing their […]
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Rell’s affordable health plan may soon be unaffordable
A piece of Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s legacy is in jeopardy: Beginning in September, the state will substantially increase the premiums for new and recent enrollees in the Charter Oak Health Plan, which Rell started three years ago as an attempt to offer affordable insurance to the uninsured. Mark Schaefer, director of medical care administration […]
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Report: Connecticut one of the least obese states, but still needs improvement
Connecticut is one of the nation’s least obese states, but that’s no reason to celebrate, according to a report released Thursday. “Today, the state with the lowest adult obesity rate would have had the highest rate in 1995,” said Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, which along with the Robert Wood […]
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Malloy’s cuts to watchdogs have nothing to do with deficit
Like other agency heads, State Healthcare Advocate Victoria Veltri is contemplating how to cut her office’s budget, and possibly its staff. It comes amid a surge in the office’s caseload, helping consumers with health insurance problems. But unlike most other agencies, the cuts to the Office of the Healthcare Advocate’s budget won’t save the state […]
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SEBAC, SustiNet and Sal Luciano’s letter
No one disputes the basic facts: The head of the largest state employee union, Council 4 AFSCME Executive Director Sal Luciano, sat on the board that developed the proposed SustiNet state-run health care plan. He was among the labor leaders urging state workers to ratify a concession deal that included changes to the state employee […]
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Malloy vetoes insurance rate review bill
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy used one of his first vetoes on a controversial bill that would have created a new public review process for proposals to increase health or long-term care insurance rates. In his veto message, Malloy called the bill, which drew support from consumer advocates and fierce opposition from the insurance industry, “bad […]
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Drug dispute as metaphor for national health care debate
A fight over whether the world’s best-selling cancer drug should be approved to treat breast cancer represents a metaphor for the national debate over the government’s role in health care, Maggie Fox writes in the National Journal. Fox writes that the drug Avastin has been shown to be effective in treating some tumors, but evidence […]
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25 nursing home contracts settled
Negotiators have reached agreements on new contracts for workers at 25 of 69 nursing homes where contracts expired earlier this year, according to the union representing the workers. “We’re a little less than halfway there,” said Deborah Chernoff, spokeswoman for the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, SEIU. The 25 contracts cover about […]
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Keeping kids enrolled is key to reducing ranks of uninsured
Efforts to get kids health insurance are centered on a relatively new premise: One of the most effective ways to reduce the number of uninsured children is to make sure those who are already covered stay covered.
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Privatization could challenge social services nonprofits
As the Malloy administration prepares to cut spending in social service agencies–part of the plan the governor released Tuesday and wants the legislature to approve today–the nonprofits that provide many safety net services for low-income and disabled residents are wondering what the changes could mean for them and their clients. People who work with nonprofits […]
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FDA unveils new, graphic cigarette warning labels
With the decline in smoking rates stalled, the Food and Drug Administration has unveiled new graphic warning labels for cigarette packs that will be required next year. The warning labels come in nine versions. One shows a man smoking through a hole in his throat with the words “Warning: Cigarettes Are Addictive.” Others show a […]
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Austin, Liang to lead health center on interim basis
Former UConn President Philip E. Austin, who just finished serving as interim university president, will become the university’s interim vice president for health affairs until a permanent replacement is found for Dr. Cato Laurencin, the medical school dean and vice president for health affairs. Dr. Bruce Liang, director of the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology […]