Insurance companies that sell plans through the state’s exchange stopped paying commissions to brokers this year, and the exchange’s CEO says that has affected enrollment.
CT exchange wants to require broker commissions for health plans
Posted inPolitics
McCrory wins Democratic nomination for Coleman’s seat
Democratic delegates in the 2nd Senatorial District voted Thursday night for Rep. Douglas McCrory, D-Hartford, over Joseph M. Suggs Jr. of Bloomfield for the nomination to succeed state Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield, a Democratic spokesman said.
Posted inPolitics
Justin Clark named to White House staff
Justin Clark, a Republican lawyer from West Hartford who was deputy national political director of Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign, was named Thursday as a deputy assistant to the president and the White House director of intergovernmental affairs.
Posted inEducation, Justice
Connecticut, hospitality industry join to fight sex trafficking
The warning signs can be a well-dressed man of a certain age checking in to a hotel with an ill-dressed minor girl. The girl might be unwilling or unable to make eye contact. Or she doesn’t have her own money, ID or cell phone. She might show evidence of abuse, physical or psychological. By law, Connecticut hotels now must train their staffs to recognize them.
Posted inEducation
Yale workers approve five-year pact
Workers unanimously approved a new contract with increased job security, preserved medical and pension benefits, and modest wage increases. The contract extends labor peace at Yale until 2022.
Posted inPolitics
West Hartford’s McGurk to help Trump in transition
WASHINGTON — Former West Hartford resident Brett McGurk, who under the Obama administration helped coordinate the war against the Islamic State, has been asked to stay in his position after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, one of about 50 Obama appointees who will remain in their posts to maintain “continuity” until Trump’s picks are confirmed.
Posted inPolitics
Nominations committee backs Rob Kane as auditor
The legislature’s Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee voted Thursday to recommend that the full General Assembly confirm former Sen. Rob Kane of Watertown as the Republican auditor of public accounts, a legislative patronage post that oversees a staff of more than 100 professional auditors.
Posted inHealth
Healthcare advocate nominee: The costs are too high
In his job interview with legislators, Ted Doolittle described the nation’s health care system as the most complex in the world, in dire need of improvement and burdening individuals with costs that are too high.
Posted inHealth
Access Health seeks to tighten midyear enrollment rules, citing potential abuse
People who try to buy health insurance after the annual open-enrollment period could soon face stricter scrutiny before getting covered under a proposal aimed at cracking down on those who forgo insurance, then enroll once they get sick.
Posted inMoney
CT’s jobless rate falls to 4.4 percent despite December job losses
Connecticut posted a mixed jobs report for December as the unemployment rate dropped from 4.7 percent to 4.4 percent, despite the loss of 1,700 jobs that month and the downgrading of November’s job gain, the state Department of Labor said Thursday.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Betsy DeVos — A clear and present danger
What I learned from watching three hours of the Senate confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education:
1. Betsy DeVos demonstrated a lack of any understanding about student assessment.
2. Betsy DeVos said that permitting guns in schools is a decision that should be left up to individual schools.
3. Betsy DeVos did not commit to preschool for all children.
4….
Posted inPolitics
Thousands from CT heading to D.C. to celebrate – and protest – inauguration
WASHINGTON — The inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump and related events may bring a record number of Connecticut residents to Washington, both to support the swearing in of the 45th president and to protest policies they expect him to implement.
Posted inPolitics
In Avon, a feeling of unease lingers as inauguration nears
AVON — For some, the anxiety is driven by the uncertainty surrounding Trump. But for others, it is the circumstances they have endured over the last eight years that drive it – and they hope Trump will bring solutions. Fourth in a series of visits to Connecticut towns leading up to the inauguration.
Posted inJustice
Gonzalez fails to block judicial confirmations
The General Assembly confirmed the reappointment of two dozen Superior Court judges and trial referees Wednesday, including a handful who faced objections from litigants in contentious family court cases during confirmation hearings last week.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Malloy: ‘Serious concerns’ about DeVos
WASHINGTON — Gov. Dannel Malloy on Wednesday joined the group of Democrats panning Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trumps’s choice to head the U.S. Department of Education. He said her testimony at a confirmation hearing “causes me to have serious concerns.”