WASHINGTON — Federal auditors said Wednesday a Senate plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement would increase the number of uninsured by 17 million next year and by 32 million in 2026.
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Posted inHealth, Politics
CT Dems willing to compromise on Obamacare, Trump says let it fail
WASHINGTON — After the collapse of the GOP Senate health care bill, Sen. Chris Murphy said Tuesday he is willing to compromise, including allowing health plans on the individual marketplace that are not compliant with the Affordable Care Act.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Malloy enlists disabled in budget fight — gets protest at his office
A day after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy all-but invited the disabled recipients of state services to lobby for a new budget, they did: They targeted him in a demonstration that ended with the arrest of five protesters in his outer office at the Capitol.
Posted inHealth
Advocates say ‘perfect storm’ of possible cuts threatens mental health care
Proposed reductions to Medicaid, coupled with state budget cuts under consideration, concern mental health advocates, who say lowering eligibility for Medicaid without providing other options would result in the cycling of patients in and out of care. When people can’t work, advocates say, they go on public assistance programs, costing the state more than they would have if they had been allowed to stay on Medicaid and remain in treatment.
Posted inHealth
‘Extreme’ use of painkillers, doctor shopping, plague Medicare, says report
The Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has found that heavy painkiller use and abuse remains a serious problem in Medicare’s prescription drug program, known as Part D, which serves more than 43 million seniors and disabled people.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Millions more uninsured could affect health of those with insurance, too
Much has been written lately about how individuals’ health could suffer if they lose insurance under the health proposals circulating in the U.S. House and Senate. But there is another consequence: creating millions more people without insurance could also impact the health of people who remain insured.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Pence, Malloy compete to define what GOP is doing to health care
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Vice President Mike Pence told the National Governors Association that the Trump administration is intent on saving Medicaid, albeit by shrinking its reach or sharing more costs with the states. The Democratic governors said the Trump strategy for making Medicaid financially sustainable would either bankrupt states or deny coverage to vulnerable Americans.
Posted inHealth, Politics
McConnell tweaks health care bill to win conservative support
WASHINGTON — Sen. Mitch McConnell rolled out a new health care bill that is broadly similar to the one that foundered in the Senate last month, but contains a few new provisions aimed at winning over recalcitrant Republican senators. The new bill was excoriated by Connecticut Democrats, and increased Democratic opposition to the effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Malloy signs pharmacy bill — and a withering P.S.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a consumer-protection bill into law Monday, but not before penning an unusual letter reviving his criticism of how the law’s influential sponsors, the top Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate, rebuffed his insurance commissioner’s efforts to shape a bipartisan measure intended to cut the cost of prescription drugs.
Posted inHealth, Politics
GOP still trying, but Blumenthal says Obamacare repeal in ‘total disarray’
WASHINGTON — The Senate returns from its Fourth of July break this week without a firm strategy on how to move forward on a health care bill that has little public support and has split Republicans. GOP leaders hope to fashion a bill that would win 50 votes, but that appears harder than ever now.
Posted inHealth, Politics
The Medicaid threat that isn’t getting much attention
No corner of the health care system would be harder hit than Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor, if Republican leaders in Congress round up the votes to repeal major portions of the Affordable Care Act.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Himes tells town hall meeting Trump is playing to public’s fears
WESTPORT — Though he began the night expressing hope in the fight against Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, fear worked its way to the forefront later in the evening as several successive speakers asked questions about crisis in government.
Posted inHealth, Justice
Growing number of states press opioid suits against Stamford’s Purdue Pharma
Updated at 10:15 a.m. with industry comment
WASHINGTON — Stamford-based Purdue Pharma, the maker of pain-killer OxyContin, is the target of an increasing number of suits by states, counties and cities alleging it is partly to blame for the nation’s opioid epidemic. The lawsuits are all different and some include other pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies as defendants. But Purdue is nearly always a main defendant.
Posted inEducation, Health, Housing, Money
Federal monitor: Too many foster children’s needs still unmet
The monitor’s latest bi-annual review of the care provided by the Department of Children and Families showed that more than 40 percent of children in sampled cases did not have all their needs met. In about a third of the cases, needs went unmet for at least six months.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Safe under ACA, patients with preexisting conditions now afraid
With the protections of Obamacare in place, physicians in recent years have urged patients to be screened for a variety of diseases and predispositions to illness, feeling confident it would not affect their future insurability. Now genetics experts and patient advocates worry that people are already shying away from testing as the health law’s future becomes more uncertain.