The agreement between state employee unions and the Malloy administration counts on a nearly 10 percent savings in employee and retiree health care costs in the first year from changing the way the benefits plan is designed. The concept behind it–structuring the plan to encourage workers to take care of their health–is already used widely […]
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
Test your knowledge of Obamacare vs. Romneycare
Can you tell the difference between Obamacare and Romneycare? PolitiFact has created a quiz to test your knowledge of the two health reform plans.
Posted inHealth
House passes most favored nation ban
A proposal to ban a controversial provision used in contracts between health care providers and insurance companies passed the House by a vote of 140-0 Thursday. It now goes to the Senate. The provision, known as a most favored nation clause, requires a hospital or health care provider to give an insurance company the lowest […]
Posted inNews
Malloy health center plan stresses research, job creation
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday announced plans for an $864 million renovation and expansion for the UConn Health Center that he said could create thousands of jobs and position the state as a leader in bioscience. It’s the fourth plan for the health center in the past five years, but Malloy said his proposal […]
Posted inHealth
Study: Prostate cancer incidence down, but robotic surgery for it up
The incidence of prostate cancer has declined in recent years, but the use of prostatectomy increased by nearly 50 percent from 2005 to 2008, coinciding with the adoption of robotic technology for the procedure, Charles Bankhead of MedPage Today reports. The findings, by a research team led by Dr. Hugh J. Lavery of Mount Sinai […]
Posted inNews
SustiNet backers, Malloy administration reach agreement
Leaders of the push to create a SustiNet state-run health plan have reached an agreement with the Malloy administration and Democratic legislative leaders, with a plan that includes examining but not committing the state to a public insurance option. “This is a very significant step forward in terms of health care reform for the state,” […]
Posted inNews
Lots of agreement on medical home concept, but little on details
State officials and physicians gathered Thursday to tout a new model for providing medical care to nearly 600,000 Medicaid recipients. The model, known as a person-centered medical home, centers on having health care providers coordinate patients’ care and monitor their health–and receive payment for it. It has support from health care providers, legislators, patient advocates […]
Posted inNews
Study: Babies wrongfully lose state insurance at first birthday
Thousands of infants inadvertently lose Medicaid coverage after their first birthday because of a confusing eligibility process that occurs when the state Department of Social Services changes the way the babies are categorized, according to a report released Friday. Families of the 1-year-olds who lose coverage can struggle to get it reinstated because DSS sends […]
Posted inHealth
States seek to penalize doctors who ask about guns
Three states are considering making it illegal for doctors to ask patients if they have a gun at home, pitting those who say the questions violate patients’ Second Amendment rights against those who say restricting the questions would violate the First Amendment, Rita Rubin of USA Today reports. The Florida legislature has already passed a […]
Posted inNews
As federal health reforms take effect, Aetna proposes rate cuts
More than 15,000 Aetna customers could see their health insurance premiums drop by between 5 and 19.5 percent later this year, reflecting, at least in part, a new federal requirement that limits how much insurance companies can spend on nonmedical costs. The proposed rate cuts would affect state residents covered by Aetna individual health plans […]
Posted inHealth
Pre-existing condition insurance program growing, but still below expectations
Enrollment in the recently created insurance program for people with pre-existing conditions is up nationally, but in Connecticut, only 51 people were participating by the end of March, according to new federal figures. And the 18,313 people participating nationally is still far below the 200,000 the Congressional Budget Office estimated would be enrolled by 2013, […]
Posted inHealth
St. Francis, 32 plaintiffs reach settlement in Reardon case
St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center has agreed to a settlement with 32 plaintiffs suing the hospital for negligence related to Dr. George Reardon, an endocrinologist who worked at the hospital for three decades and is believed to have sexually abused as many as 500 children. The settlement came as a jury was scheduled to […]
Posted inHealth
Study: Black patients more closely monitored for opioid abuse
Physicians are more likely to monitor black patients prescribed opioid painkillers, even though research suggests that white patients are more likely to abuse the drugs, according to a study published in the Annals of Family Medicine. The observational study, led by Yale University School of Medicine instructor Dr. William C. Becker, was based on 1,612 […]
Posted inNews
Agencies welcome chance to join state health plan–at the right price
State leaders are poised to allow nonprofits to buy insurance through the state employee health plan, and the agency Patrick J. Johnson Jr. runs is in many ways an ideal candidate. The agency, Oak Hill, serves people with disabilities and has faced double-digit premium hikes in recent years. Its benefits package is considered high-end for […]
Posted inHealth, Money
Hospital tax fallout changes yet again
A new revision to the proposed tax on hospitals would exempt six hospitals that have struggled financially from a portion of the tax but would reduce the total amount of money hospitals get from the state. The budget proposal agreed to by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislators calls for taxing hospitals and redistributing […]