The state’s new insurance plan for people with pre-existing conditions, one of the first programs made available under the federal health reform law, offers lower premiums than the high-risk plans the state already offers. But for close to 2,000 people in those existing plans, the new pool offers little benefit because of something known as a “crowd out” rule.
Health
Stories about health care access and affordability in CT, as well as abortion, COVID, health equity and disparities, health systems and social determinants of health.
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Malloy: ‘Find the balance’ between healthcare and the budget
Gubernatorial candidate Dannel P. Malloy has lots of ideas for improving the state’s health care system. But he offers fewer details on how he would balance the competing demands of health spending and budget cutting.
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Foley: Health care costs can be cut 15% with no benefit loss
Tom Foley doesn’t like the federal health reform law–he’d rather see it repealed and replaced with something that cuts costs. He believes the state budget needs to shrink by at least 10 percent. And in health care, which accounts for nearly a third of state spending, he sees a plum source for savings.
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Will Rell’s Charter Oak Health Plan initiative survive when she leaves?
The Charter Oak Health Plan was one of Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s most prized initiatives, providing health coverage for uninsured adults. But it’s not clear how long the program will last after Rell leaves office.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Stem cells, law and politics at Yale
NEW HAVEN — Science and politics met awkwardly Thursday afternoon at a Yale forum on stem cell research promoted by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s campaign for U.S. Senate. Blumenthal told scientists and research advocates that he would do whatever he could as attorney general and a potential senator to reverse a judge’s ruling that halts […]
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State struggles to implement health care reform
Huge. Complex. Difficult. These are just a few of the adjectives Cristine Vogel throws out as she tries to describe her new job: special adviser to Gov. M. Jodi Rell for health care reform.
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New Medicaid patients could test state’s physician network
Connecticut stands to see its Medicaid patient caseload surge starting in 2014 as national health care legislation opens the door to as many as 150,000 new patients over a six-year period, according to a new study.
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Insurers shift focus to health reform rules
WASHINGTON — For Aetna and other insurers, the battle over health-care reform is not over. It has just shifted to new decision-makers, a more obscure process, and a series of questions that are narrower, yet still significant.