WASHINGTON – Nearly one-in-four residents of the Hartford metropolitan area have a pre-existing medical condition that might make it difficult for them to obtain insurance coverage for that illness if a key provision in the Affordable Care Act is overturned, a new study says.
Study: 24 percent of Hartford area residents have pre-existing health problem
Posted inNews
Feds give two immigrant children in Connecticut a year’s reprieve
Two immigrant children who were reunited with their parents in Connecticut after being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border have been granted temporary legal immigration status.
Posted inMoney
Connecticut starting to beef up its meager fiscal cushion
Next month Connecticut will post its largest emergency budget reserve in a decade. But Connecticut only ranks in the middle of all states when it comes to amassing a fiscal cushion against the next economic downturn.
Posted inPolitics
Ballot access is a step forward for Oz. Now, is there another?
Oz Griebel is on the ballot. It’s time now to see if potential donors pay attention, if the invitations to debates and forums come and if lightning strikes — something happens that gives Griebel a moment that connects with disaffected voters. If there exists a third-party Zeitgeist in Connecticut in 2018, he has yet to find it.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Why synthetic marijuana is so risky
The Green, a gathering place in New Haven near Yale University, looked like a mass casualty zone, with 70 serious drug overdoses over a period spanning Aug. 15-16, 2018. The cause: synthetic cannabinoids, also known as K2, Spice, or AK47, which induced retching, vomiting, loss of consciousness and trouble breathing. On July 19, the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers that another batch of synthetic marijuana had been laced with rat poison. In 10 states and the District of Columbia, hundreds of people were hospitalized with severe bleeding, and four people died.
Posted inHealth
STDs reach record levels in CT, early data show
Connecticut and the rest of the nation last year experienced a record-high number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases, including gonorrhea, which health officials fear may be becoming more resistant to antibiotic treatment.
Posted inPolitics
As former colleagues pay tribute, Lieberman mourns John McCain privately
WASHINGTON – As colleagues and friends gave emotional tributes to John McCain this week, former Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, has chosen instead to mourn his “amigo” more privately. Lieberman will speak at the memorial service for McCain in Washington on Saturday, but has declined to speak to the press about his friend and former Senate ally.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
What our congressional representatives are doing — or not
I believe Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters in Connecticut are so transfixed by the looming $70 billion in unfunded pension and health care benefits for present and past state employees that we don’t focus enough on the job being done — or not done — by our congressional delegation. But in my opinion our federal representatives seem to get a pass, as we don’t ask them about international issues.
Posted inPolitics
With labor, Lamont carefully treads a path blazed by Malloy
Ned Lamont has spent months trying to distance himself from the unpopular Democratic governor he hopes to succeed, but when it comes to the public-sector unions that bedeviled his predecessor, Lamont faces the same dilemma: How to keep labor’s support in difficult fiscal times?
Posted inPolitics
In first TV ads, Chris Murphy walks the walk
WASHINGTON – Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy will launch his first television ads on Wednesday in one of the quietest Senate races in the nation this year. The ads don’t mention Murphy’s challenger, Republican businessman Matthew Corey, focusing instead on the senator’s annual walk across the state.
Posted inPolitics
Oz Griebel qualifies for gubernatorial ballot
Oz Griebel, a former Republican running for governor with a former Democrat, Monte Frank, as his running mate, qualified for the ballot Tuesday, the secretary of the state’s office said. He joins Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski.
Posted inHealth
Eight new conditions approved for CT’s medical marijuana program
The legislature’s Regulations Review Committee approved the addition of eight new conditions to the medical marijuana program on Tuesday. The eight apply to all adults, but only two of those conditions are allowed for those under 18.
Posted inHealth
Senate backs White House on effort to require drug prices in ads
The U.S. Senate gave consumers – along with doctors, hospitals, and Connecticut’s health insurers — a win by approving bipartisan legislation that would require “direct-to-consumer” advertising to include the price of the medications, which are among the costliest on the market.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Thanks, Mr. President, for the lobster!
The economy has improved since President Trump has taken office. Black unemployment is the lowest ever, Hispanic unemployment is the lowest in decades. The growth of the economy which is measured by GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, is 4.1 percent the highest it has been in several years. All of these economic indicators nationally are directly affecting the Connecticut economy in a positive way.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Tax avoidance by part-time residence is costing us
The Connecticut income tax is, as it should be, an important subject for the gubernatorial candidates to discuss and to describe their preferences, e.g., repeal, modify, nothing. One item that is not being discussed is the fact that Connecticut residents — I don’t know how many or much is involved — are able to avoid paying any Connecticut income tax by declaring residency in another state — Florida, for example, that does not have an income tax.