Most insurance companies selling individual and small group health plans in Connecticut have requested significant rate increases for next year, attributing the proposed hikes to growing health care costs and uncertainty in Washington D.C. about the erosion of the Affordable Care Act.
Insurers seek rate hikes for 2019, but less than previous year
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Income inequality, unchecked disparities threaten prosperity of Connecticut children
For decades, a wealth of research has taught us that our nation is at its strongest when we make sound investments in our children and young people. Now, new data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2018 KIDS COUNT® Data Book confirm what history has already shown: failing to invest in children and families deprives our state and nation of a robust future.
Posted inPolitics
By way of Virginia super PAC, wealthy donors boost Stefanowski
A Virginia super PAC is providing a way for seven supporters of Connecticut gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski to collectively spend nearly $350,000 on his behalf — 100 times the maximum $3,500 contribution each could give directly to Stefanowski’s campaign for the GOP nomination.
Posted inPolitics
Republican candidates take swing at labor
A proposal Thursday by Republican gubernatorial candidate David Stemerman to cut the ranks of state employees, privatize state services and force employees and retirees to accept smaller pensions is the latest sign of the Connecticut Republican Party’s comfort in engaging public-sector unions in open warfare.
Posted inEducation
DCF seeks independent review of children’s psychiatric hospital
Connecticut Department of Children and Families Commissioner Joette Katz said on Thursday she is seeking an independent review of the state-run psychiatric facility for children where a pregnant teenager hanged herself last month.
Posted inHealth
Lots of plans, but still no product for the Health Information Exchange
Nearly 18 months and $5 million later, Connecticut’s fourth attempt to create a statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE) is still in the planning phase.
Posted inPolitics
Connecticut seeing surge of voter registrations since 2016 election
Connecticut residents are registering to vote at an unprecedented rate in a non-presidential election cycle, indicating increased interest in politics since President Donald Trump won the White House, analysts say. According to data from the Connecticut Secretary of State’s office, from the 2016 election through June of this year, 81,908 new voters registered as Democrats, compared to 43,390 who registered as Republicans.
Posted inMoney
CT adds 6,100 jobs in June as unemployment drops to 4.4 percent
Connecticut’s unemployment rate improved slightly in June, dropping from 4.5 to 4.4 percent as the state gained 6,100 jobs, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Back to school: Has your teenager had an annual primary care visit?
Aaron, his mother, and I sit together in my pediatric primary care office. He is 16 years old. We discuss his sleep schedule, nutrition, and after-school activities. He’s trying out for the football team, and we talk a lot about concussion safety. He is doing well in school. His physical exam is completely normal. He’s the picture of health — normal weight, blood pressure is perfect, heart sounds are steady and regular, his muscles and joints ready for football practice. I make sure he is up to date with his immunizations. But what I don’t see in his exam —and what Aaron and I need to talk about— are the three most common causes of death in his age group: 1) accidents 2) suicide 3) homicide.
Posted inPolitics
Democratic candidates vie for crowd approval during Hartford forum
About 100 people came to the Hartford Public Library to hear the gubernatorial contenders, Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont and Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, and lieutenant governor candidates, Susan Bysiewicz and Eva Bermudez Zimmerman, answer questions regarding education, immigration, policing, marijuana, and at times, even their perceived moral turpitude.
Posted inPolitics
Stemerman on offensive, says it’s time to show differences
FAIRFIELD — On and off stage Wednesday night, the Republican gubernatorial field turned on Bob Stefanowski, reinforcing a narrative his opponents are promoting in public forums and new advertising: GOP primary voters cannot trust a man who enrolled as Democrat in 2016 and did not vote for Donald J. Trump — or anyone else — for president.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy names Pedro Segarra to Workers’ Compensation post
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Wednesday nominated Hartford’s former mayor, Pedro E. Segarra, as a worker’s compensation commissioner and J. Lawrence Price, a former West Hartford councilman, as a family support magistrate.
Posted inHealth
Medicaid transportation contractor still stuck on the basic problems
More than two dozen healthcare providers and advocates attended a meeting Wednesday to voice what are now familiar complaints against Veyo, a Total Transit Company contracted since January to provide transportation for Medicaid patients to and from appointments across the state of Connecticut.
Posted inPolitics
CT sues DOJ over immigration conditions on policing grant money
WASHINGTON – Connecticut on Wednesday joined five other states in suing to block the Justice Department for its efforts to punish so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions by putting immigration-related conditions on federal policing grants. Connecticut would lose more than $1.7 million in Byrnes crime-fighting grants if it does not comply with the conditions.
Posted inTransportation
Lembo will oppose $10 M analysis of tolls, but plan likely still to pass
State Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo said Wednesday he will not support Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposal to borrow $10 million to fund a new analysis on electronic tolling.