State officials project accidental drug deaths to remain virtually flat this year, marking the first break in the momentum of an epidemic that has shown double-digit increases year after year since at least 2012.
Drug deaths expected to remain level in 2018, following years of staggering increases
Posted inHealth
Insurance Department approves on average 3 percent rate hikes for 2019 plans
The Connecticut Insurance Department announced Thursday that premiums for individual and small group plans can rise only about 3 percent on average in 2019, lower than the increases approved in recent years.
Posted inPolitics
Off the main stage, Griebel pitches his deficit solution
Independent gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel, who has struggled to attract financial and political support, told reporters Thursday that he would empty the Rainy Day Fund and suspend contributions to the state’s underfunded pension system to help close a huge, post-election state budget deficit.
Posted inPolitics
Murphy seeks to influence state races
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chris Murphy is not only running for re-election this year, he’s also stumping for dozens of state candidates in a year when the governor’s office and the state assembly are in play, keeping a promise to help state Democrats – and himself.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Catching the ‘crucial window of opportunity’ to escape opioid disorders
Opioids are insidious, and when a user expresses willingness to get help there is a small, crucial window of opportunity. That window slams shut when symptoms of withdrawal hit. Community Mental Health Affiliates, along with the Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition and Beacon Pharmacy, have scheduled a naloxone (Narcan) education and free distribution event at 270 John Downey Drive, New Britain, from 5-6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 18. All are welcome.
Posted inPolitics
A two-man debate with room for a third, Dannel P. Malloy
The first head-to-head debate by Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski ended Wednesday night without Connecticut voters learning how either man would close a $2.1 billion deficit or how Stefanowski would begin to deliver on his audacious promise to eliminate the state income tax.
Posted inHealth
Medicaid transportation contractor improving, but complaints continue
Veyo has made some marked improvements in recent months, but the company hired to oversee the transportation of Medicaid patients continues to be criticized for its performance and has been fined several times by the state for contract violations.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Student finds tech future requires design for human needs
Hoping to broaden my worldly outlook, I took an opportunity to attend Education First’s Global Leadership Summit with my fellow classmates. Going to London, Paris, and Berlin with thousands of international students for a leadership conference was more than a vacation. It was founded on an intriguing premise: “The Influence of Technology on Society.”
Posted inPolitics
Is CT gearing up for another fiscal bait and switch?
With big budget deficits looming large, Connecticut’s next governor will be hard pressed to deliver a package of tax cuts legislators already have approved and scheduled to begin after the November election.
Posted inJustice
CT files lawsuit after losing nearly $11M in ‘kickback pyramid scheme’
Connecticut is suing a Florida-based compounding pharmacy and several people, including former and current state employees, for their alleged involvement in a kickback pyramid scheme that cost the state nearly $11 million, Attorney General George Jepsen announced Tuesday.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Blumenthal says he’s ready to sue for Kavanaugh documents
WASHINGTON –Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday said he will spearhead an effort to sue for documents relating to Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s tenure in the White House. “We are going to be going to court sometime this week to compel compliance with our FOIA request,” Blumenthal said at a press conference in Hartford.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Making Americans great voters again
Colonial Americans celebrated voting because it was new and radical. How do we recapture that enthusiasm for the revolutionary act of voting? We can start by making Election Day fun again, a national holiday that embraces consumerism as well as the commonweal.
Posted inMoney
‘Donor state’ Conn. gets more than its fair share of federal contracting dollars
WASHINGTON– Connecticut pays more in taxes than it gets back in federal dollars, but when it comes to federal contracting dollars, the state receives more money than most and this could be a banner year.
Posted inPolitics
Lamont calls DMV ’emblematic of state government’
You probably think of the DMV as just a place to get your license or registration — usually after an interminable wait. Comics have long used it as a punchline. Ned Lamont on Monday became the latest politician to use it as a metaphor for what is wrong with government bureaucracy.
Posted inPolitics
New chapter in governor’s race opens Wednesday
The first opportunity for side-by-side comparisons of Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski, each a businessman trying to become Connecticut’s next governor without significant government experience, will come Wednesday night on the stage of a 1920s movie palace enjoying a second life as a performing arts center.