The Insurance Department was urged Wednesday to block rate hikes on the state’s health exchange. Critics called the years-long cycle of increases unsustainable.
Jenna Carlesso
Jenna is a reporter on The Connecticut Mirror’s investigative desk. Her reporting on gaps in Connecticut’s elder care system prompted sweeping changes in nursing home and home care policy. Jenna has also covered lapses in long-term care facilities, investigated the impact of cyberattacks on hospitals, and uncovered the questionable dealings of health ministry groups that masquerade as insurance. Her reporting sparked reforms in health care and government oversight, helped erase medical debt for Connecticut residents, and led to the indictments of developers in a major state project. Her work has been recognized by the National Press Foundation and the Association of Health Care Journalists. Before joining CT Mirror, she was a reporter at The Hartford Courant, where she covered government in the capital city with a focus on corruption, theft of taxpayer funds, and ethical violations.
Posted inHealth
Lawyers for state say school-level vaccination data won’t be released until October
School officials have until Sept. 6 to report immunization data from 2018-19 to the health department. After that, the health department will process and sort the data, which is expected to take weeks.
Posted inNews
Religious exemptions to vaccines rose by 25 percent in one year
The increase is the largest single-year jump in religious exemptions since the department began tracking the data a decade ago.
Posted inHealth
Senate Democrats call on state to find funding for Planned Parenthood
The lawmakers want the state to provide $2 million to replace federal family planning funding the organization rejected due to new rules that prohibit recipients from referring women for abortions.
Posted inHealth
Public health commissioner won’t release school-by-school vaccination data
The decision to withhold the data comes after calls for transparency from lawmakers who say parents should have access to the information as the school year begins.
Posted inHealth
Lawmakers call for release of vaccine data as students begin school year
House Majority Leader says state would be “negligent” if it withheld data that showed an increase in vaccine exemptions.
Posted inMoney
New report shows recreational marijuana revenue volatile in many states
While Connecticut opted not to legalize and tax recreational marijuana sales this year, many lawmakers saw the pot market as a revenue source that could rake in tens of millions of dollars annually for the state’s coffers. But a new analysis by Pew Charitable Trusts found that states with legalized pot sales are struggling to predict how much they can haul in on an annual basis.
Posted inHealth
Lawyer for Bristol couple’s vaccine lawsuit: Data release is ‘invasion of privacy’
A lawyer for a Bristol couple suing to block the release of Connecticut school-by-school immunization data argues in court papers that distributing the information amounts to an “invasion of privacy” for families with unvaccinated children, even though no students would be identified.
Posted inHealth
Data show hundreds of millions of opioid pills flowed into CT
As the opioid epidemic flourished across the country between 2006 and 2012, Connecticut’s pharmacies dispensed more than 675 million opioid-based pills.
Posted inNews
Vocal opposition here to Trump’s ‘public charge’ immigration rule
The governor and leaders of immigrant, labor and health-care organizations were all voicing opposition Tuesday to a Trump Administration rule they say will penalize legal immigrants who rely on food stamps, housing assistance, school lunch and other government social programs.
Posted inHealth
Day Kimball Healthcare eyes deal with for-profit hospital chain
Day Kimball Healthcare is exploring a partnership with a California-based, for-profit company that owns three Connecticut hospitals and has been cited for lapses in treatment across several of its facilities.
Posted inHealth
Education group: Repeal the religious exemption from vaccination
Connecticut’s religious exemption from vaccinating school children should be repealed and state Health Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell must be free to weigh in on the issue, the head of an education reform advocacy group said Monday.
Posted inHealth
Health officials share concerns over religious exemption to vaccines
The Department of Public Health continues to refuse to offer an opinion on whether politicians should wipe out the religious exemption to vaccines.
Posted inHealth
Republican lawmakers ask health commissioner not to offer opinion on vaccine exemption repeal
The lawmakers sent a letter to Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell saying it would be improper for her to offer an opinion on the issue.
Posted inHealth
As plastic straw ban effort persists, advocates for disabled community fight to be heard
Although the effort to ban plastic straws in restaurants statewide ultimately failed, no one in the disabled community is feeling much relief.