When viewed through the prism of personal finances, the U.S. Senate contest is a matter of who has more zeros. Democrat Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s attorney general, reported combined household assets last year of up to $124 million, including a checking account owned by his wife Cynthia with more than $1 million in it and multimillion-dollar […]
Deirdre Shesgreen
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Young adults still face coverage gap, despite health reform
Every year, as college graduation approaches, Michael Kurland gets an onslaught of anxious phone calls from parents who realize their children are about to lose their health insurance. “Parents call and ask me, ‘Oh my God, what do we do?’,” said Kurland, director of Student Health Services at the University of Connecticut. This year was no different, even […]
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State’s Congressional delegation weathers the recession
The sour economy has not hit the investment portfolios of Connecticut’s members of Congress too hard. Sure, a few lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Lieberman, have seen a small dip in their investments. And some, such as 5th District Rep. Chris Murphy, didn’t have that much to begin with. But federal financial disclosure forms released yesterday […]
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State hospitals facing Medicare cut
The federal government plans to slice about $66 million from the annual Medicare payments it sends to Connecticut hospitals in the coming fiscal year, which would deal a significant budget blow to many of the state’s health care facilities. Connecticut hospital officials are fighting the proposed cuts announced by the federal Centers for Medicare and […]
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Congressmen squeezed between calls for stimulus, austerity
WASHINGTON – During a recent meeting with labor leaders, Rep. Chris Murphy was pressed by the head of an influental teachers’ union to support a $23 billion education rescue package pending in Congress. The message was reiterated in radio ads aired in Murphy’s district warning of shuttered schools, closed libraries and laid-off teachers if the […]
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Connecticut left out of health care reform bill’s Medicare windfall
WASHINGTON – The federal government is preparing to dole out $400 million in extra Medicare money to low-spending hospitals around the country, thanks to an 11th hour provision added to the sweeping health reform law to win over a handful of wavering lawmakers. Connecticut hospitals won’t see a dime of that money, but other hospitals […]