When Dr. Paul Grundy’s cat was due for an immunization, he got a notice. And that, Grundy said, illustrates a key flaw in the nation’s health care system: His pet’s care was better coordinated than his family’s. “My cat had a registry. My wife didn’t,” Grundy, director of health care, technology and strategic initiatives for […]
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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Coalition calls for Sullivan’s ouster over insurance rate rulings
A coalition that includes labor unions and community groups called for the removal of state insurance Commissioner Thomas Sullivan Monday, saying he “consistently rubber stamps rate increases for individual health insurance policies.”
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Mental health advocates have a blueprint for children’s care
From the time he was a baby, Jennifer Gross knew something was not right with the way her son, Michael, was developing. But he was healthy and basically happy, and doctors and guidance counselors dismissed her concerns as the worries of an overprotective mom. Jennifer Gross: Early diagnosis can prevent later problems (Arielle Levin Becker) […]
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Lembo urges Anthem, Hartford Hospital to put patients first
State Healthcare Advocate Kevin Lembo is urging Hartford Hospital and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield to put its patients first in their contract dispute and “end this game of corporate ‘chicken.’” If the two sides do not reach an agreement, Hartford and Windham hospitals, which have the same parent company, could leave Anthem’s network […]
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Massachusetts doctor shortage: A glimpse of the future?
Many experts look to Massachusetts, which enacted a universal health care law four years ago, for a sneak peek at life after health reform. And according to a new study, the picture includes significant physician shortages.
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Oversight group criticizes HUSKY managed care profits
The three managed care companies in the state’s HUSKY insurance program for low-income children and families recorded profits of $18.8 million last year, according to figures released by the state Department of Social Services. In one part of HUSKY, the insurers made margins of at least 20 percent and spent less than 72 percent of […]
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Employers weigh in on Hartford Hospital-Anthem fight
The state comptroller’s office, along with a handful of cities and other self-funded health plans, is weighing in on negotiations between Hartford Hospital and the insurer Anthem, warning that they cannot pay the increased rates the hospital is seeking. Hartford and Windham hospitals, which share a parent company, could leave the Anthem network by Nov. […]
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Federal official blasts state Insurance Department over Anthem rate hikes
A federal official in charge of insurance oversight on Monday blasted the Connecticut Insurance Department for approving “extremely large” premium increases for the insurer Anthem, and called on the department to hold a hearing on the changes.
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Poll: A month before the election, Americans still split on health care reform
Americans remain divided on the health reform law, but more voters consider the economy more important in deciding how they will vote, according to poll results released Monday.
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UConn faces grant competition
U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd drew criticism last year when he got a $100 million hospital grant inserted into the health reform bill. At the time, the University of Connecticut needed funds to remake its John Dempsey Hospital, but Dodd rejected claims that the narrowly worded grant was an earmark, noting that about a dozen states […]
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On health care, sides agree on where to go, not how to get there
Two experts of opposite political stripes both predicted the demise of the employer-based health care system and said the nation must still find a way to control health care spending. They agreed on the need to give everyone access to health care at a cost individuals and society can afford. What they disagree on is how to engineer it.
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Quinnipiac sets an ambitious goal for its future medical school
NORTH HAVEN–As if creating a medical school from scratch in just four years isn’t ambitious enough, Quinnipiac University has compounded the challenge: It wants to get a sizable portion of the graduates to pursue primary care, an area that badly needs more doctors. Quinnipiac University President John Lahey on future medical school’s North Haven campus […]
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Study says teens wrongly denied state health coverage
Nearly one in six teens covered by the state’s HUSKY insurance program loses coverage after turning 18, even though the program covers young people until age 19. The rate of disenrollment for 18-year-olds is nearly eight times higher than it is for other age groups, and a can lead teens to go without health care […]
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Though some resist, more hospitals joining networks
Clarence Silvia led Southington’s Bradley Memorial Hospital through its first move up the food chain, a 2006 merger with New Britain General. It was critical, he believes, for the hospital’s survival in an era of tight margins and pressure to invest in new systems like electronic medical records. “I do not know how Bradley would […]
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Rell asks feds to relax insurance rule
Saying federal regulations have created a “stone wall” preventing Connecticut residents from enrolling in a new state health insurance plan, Gov. M. Jodi Rell has asked U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to consider relaxing the rule. The state created the Connecticut Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan to comply with a requirement in the […]