Members of a state panel on Wednesday were expecting an update from Veyo, the new medical transportation company that oversees rides for Medicaid recipients and has been the source of numerous complaints since it started working for the state Jan 1. But the state Department of Social Services, which hired Veyo, said they had excused the company from appearing.
Panel annoyed by inability to question Medicaid transport firm
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Dr. Bandy Lee is damaging the psychiatric profession
A Yale psychiatrist, Dr. Bandy Lee, is enjoying her 15 minutes of fame as the editor of the bestseller “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.” This book contains the opinions of 27 psychiatrists and psychologists, some of whom believe the President suffers from cognitive dysfunction and mental illness. In doing so, they are damaging a specialty that has struggled to gain respectability among the general public and making it more difficult for those with mental disorders to receive treatment.
Posted inPolitics
A rising GOP star at 20, Aundré Bumgardner defects over Trump
On a difficult election night for Connecticut Republicans in 2014, Aundré Bumgardner was one of the bright spots, a 20-year-old black candidate whose election to the state House gave the GOP a jolt of youth and racial diversity. He was hailed by the Republican state chairman as “part of the next generation of leaders in our party.” Three years later, Bumgardner no longer is a member of the House or the Republican Party, unwilling to tolerate what he sees as President Trump’s intolerance.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Congress funds children’s health program, but not health centers
Coverage of children who depended on HUSKY B lurched from month to month before Congress approved the continuing resolution that ended the shutdown. But there was no funding for community health centers, which serve many HUSKY B children and Medicaid recipients.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Town leaders: Further reform needed for pensions, school funding
Municipal leaders urged a state study panel Tuesday to support further restrictions on public-sector pensions, ending collective bargaining for retirement benefits and aggressively redistributing education aid from communities losing students to those gaining them.
Posted inMoney, Transportation
Rojas to propose 4-cent hike in CT gasoline tax
Unless some action is taken during the regular 2018 session — which begins Feb. 7 — the House chairman of the General Assembly’s tax-writing panel said he’s convinced capital projects will stall, rail and bus fares will rise, and key transit services will be canceled.
Posted inPolitics
Arora puts up big money in bid to unseat Himes
WASHINGTON – With his base in wealthy Fairfield County, Rep. Jim Himes is a top campaign fundraiser, but the Democrat has a new Republican challenger who says he plans to rival the incumbent in raising political money.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
New reality: Changing cities and burbs can thrive together
The likelihood of Hartford, the lynchpin of this region, snatching victory from the jaws of near-bankruptcy is too-often viewed skeptically, even as adjacent suburban communities gain notice as up-and-coming places to be. Evidence suggests that our habitual reactions are selling the region, and the city, short. Urban communities and the suburbs that surround them can thrive together. In fact, that may be the only way for either – or both – to sustain and spread economic progress.
Posted inHealth
Breaking down this year’s Access Health CT open enrollment
Data shows that the largest group of customers are those 55 to 64 years old and customers who pay full price tend to be younger.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
State says more data necessary to assess Millstone’s viability
A long-awaited assessment of the energy market released Monday by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority does not resolve questions about the economic viability of the region’s biggest provider of carbon-free electricity, the Millstone nuclear station at Waterford. State officials say they need more information from its owner, Dominion Energy.
Posted inHealth
Female lawmakers will champion bills aimed at women’s health
As Connecticut legislators gear up for the start of the 2018 session, female lawmakers on Monday outlined plans to introduce several bills targeted at protecting women’s health services. They stressed a need to address health disparities among women and protect benefits currently provided under the Affordable Care Act.
Posted inJustice, Money, Politics
Most CT lawmakers opposed bill that reopened government
WASHINGTON — Saying the deal was not good for Connecticut, most Connecticut lawmakers on Monday voted against a short-term spending bill that will reopen the government. The Connecticut Democrats who opposed the CR said it failed to fund programs important to the state and to protect young undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers.” But it did authorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as HUSKY B in Connecticut, for six years.
Posted inPolitics
Susan Hatfield, a prosecutor, explores GOP campaign for AG
Susan Hatfield, a state prosecutor from eastern Connecticut who was a Donald J. Trump delegate in 2016 and once worked in Washington as a young policy aide to former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, opened an exploratory campaign Monday for the Republican nomination for attorney general.
Posted inMoney
CT gains 6,000 jobs in December
Connecticut gained 6,000 non-farm jobs in December, but its unemployment rate remained constant at 4.6 percent, the state Department of Labor reported Monday.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The Asian Registry is an American issue
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamt of a day when Americans would “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Remembering his wise words on the day dedicated to his memory inspired me to address a current issue that most have never heard about: The Asian Registry.