With workers harder to find and Obamacare’s tax on generous coverage postponed, employers are hitting pause on a feature of job-based medical insurance much hated by employees: the high-deductible health plan.
High-deductible health plans falling from grace in employer-based coverage
Posted inNews
Truth or myth, fact or fiction: What is political reality?
At the height of election season, separating truth from lies, fact from fiction, and myth from reality is a challenge. It’s true in both Connecticut and Washington, D.C., as the November balloting nears. In Washington, the nomination and ultimate confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as the newest member of the U.S. Supreme Court revealed polar differences in perception of – and portrayal of — the relevant facts.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Senate confirms Kavanaugh to Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed by a narrow vote in the Senate Saturday after a bitter and partisan battle over his nomination that included allegations of sexual misconduct. The 50-48 largely party-line vote was expected after several undecided senators, including Sen. Susan Collins R-Maine, declared on Friday they would support the nominee.
Posted inPolitics
The Kavanaugh fight pivots to the polls
Sally Grossman, a Planned Parenthood volunteer, recounted being sexually assaulted 20 years ago by a friend in college. As senators in D.C. moved toward confirming Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice on Friday, dozens of female elected officials and activists took to the steps of New Haven’s federal courthouse vowing to convert their anger into votes […]
Posted inPolitics
Lamont recruits senior executives to business advisory group
New Haven — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont had breakfast Friday with senior corporate executives who have agreed to serve on a Business Advisory Council that Lamont says he would use to recruit and retain businesses in Connecticut.
Posted inPolitics
Griebel: Tapping pension funds risky — doing nothing is worse
Independent gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel says his proposal to defer pension contributions to avert a post-election state budget deficit is a risk, but not as extreme as maintaining state government’s fiscal status quo.
Posted inJustice
Senate advances Kavanaugh nomination, confirmation likely to follow
WASHINGTON – Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s quest to become the next member of the Supreme Court received several crucial boosts Friday, making his confirmation all but certain.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Parents: Vaccinate your sons and daughters against cancer!
Most of the vaccinations recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and required to enter public school in Connecticut are administered in early childhood and completed by age 4, and then begin again at age 11 (excepting the yearly influenza vaccine). But there is an additional and essential vaccine that was explicitly developed to prevent cancer: the vaccine against human papilloma virus (HPV).
Posted inPolitics
Connecticut teachers joining the march to political office
WASHINGTON – This is not only the “Year of the Woman” in politics, it is also the “Year of the Teacher’ with more educators running for public office across the nation and in Connecticut, union officials say.
Posted inPolitics
Hayes, Santos disagree on, well, pretty much everything in CT-5
PROSPECT — Democrat Jahana Hayes and Republican Manny Santos debated for the first time Thursday in Connecticut’s only open congressional race, offering sharply different views of immigration, trade, tax reform and Obamacare — issues President Donald J.Trump has brought to a boil in American political life.
Posted inNews
FBI report splits Congress along party lines; Blumenthal calls it a ‘cover up’
WASHINGTON – The finished FBI investigation of sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has deepened the divisiveness in Congress. Sen. Richard Blumenthal called the probe “a whitewash” and Sen. Chris Murphy has determined Kavanaugh “is the most dangerous nominee to the Supreme Court in a lifetime.” Meanwhile Republican senators say the FBI’s probe fails to corroborate any of the sexual assault allegations against the judge.
Posted inHealth
CVS, Aetna urge Connecticut regulators to approve proposed acquisition
The Connecticut Insurance Department now has 30 days to decide whether to approve CVS Health Corp.’s acquisition of Hartford-based Aetna Inc. – a merger the companies say will drive down health care costs and opponents portray as anti-competitive and harmful to patients.
Posted inJustice
Adjudicated juveniles will stay in pre-trial detention centers for foreseeable future
Despite plans to provide them with alternative and more suitable housing, juvenile offenders who require secure facilities will continue to reside in the two state pre-trial detention centers for the indefinite future.
Posted inPolitics
Stefanowski says he raised $1.5 million in September
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski, whose ability to financially compete with Democrat Ned Lamont has been suspect, said Thursday he raised $1.5 million in September and has $746,000 cash on hand.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The one thing all candidates can agree on
There is not much consensus among our gubernatorial candidates this election cycle, but one topic that appears to have generated genuine agreement is that Connecticut needs to do more to ensure our state has the talent it needs for the economy to thrive. It seems every day we read about manufacturers that have thousands of unfilled jobs due to the lack of skilled workers. We have a burgeoning start-up community that is straining to keep growing companies here because they cannot find enough software engineers at their fingertips. State leaders warn all sectors are at risk without a more skilled and robust cyber security workforce in place. The Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth finds the largest disparity in workforce supply and demand is among healthcare practitioners.