WASHINGTON – UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest health insurer and former potential suitor to merge with Cigna, provided the Justice Department with a large amount of sensitive, proprietary and confidential information to help the government investigate and block the mergers by its rivals.
UnitedHeathcare a player in insurance merger lawsuits
Posted inCT Viewpoints
In CCJEF v. Rell, a troubling outlook on funding students with disabilities
Deep in Judge Thomas Moukawsher’s decision in the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Educational Funding v. Rell is troubling language regarding funding for students with severe disabilities. Judge Moukawsher is correct that identifying students with disabilities remains imprecise and subjective. And yes, school funding issues are negatively and disparately impacting students with disabilities. However, the language Judge Moukawsher uses in his ruling regarding determining educational benefits for students with the most severe disabilities is disturbing at best.
Posted inPolitics
CT GOP wonders how to change the topic from Trump to economy
Connecticut Republicans struggled over the weekend to gauge how badly their campaign to win control of the Connecticut General Assembly has been sidetracked by the spectacle of a defiant Donald J. Trump facing off against the establishment of both parties over a video showing him crudely boasting of his ability as a celebrity to molest women with impunity.
Posted inNews
Teamsters approve Sikorsky deal by lopsided margin
Teamsters Local Union 1150 voted by a 15-1 margin Sunday for concessions sought by Lockheed Martin as part of an incentives deal with the state that will keep its Sikorsky Aircraft subsidiary and production of its next generation of helicopters in Connecticut, state officials said.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics, Transportation
Municipal, business and labor leaders plan summit on economy
Connecticut’s municipal, business and labor leaders will convene their second annual fall summit next month to develop strategies to bolster the state’s economic future.
Posted inMoney
New deal reopens Old State House to the public, possibly by Nov. 1
The agreement returns control of the downtown Hartford landmark to the Office of Legislative Management, ending a plan to shift oversight to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. It also ensures that paintings, antiques and other memorabilia slated for removal from the Old State House will remain in the building.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
So many transportation questions, so few easy answers
Every week I bump into someone on the train or at a store who says… “Hey… You’re that train guy!” Who knew that this job would come with such notoriety? But while nobody seems to want my autograph, they all want to talk about their favorite transportation problem, usually in the form of a question. Here are a few of my favorites, by category:
Posted inEducation
Steep tuition hike pitched for many community college students
Updated at 7:13 p.m.
Tuition and fees would increase next semester for community college students who take more than 12 credit hours, and the regional Connecticut state universities would stop offering students health insurance under two proposals to balance a difficult budget for the state college system.
Posted inMoney
Henkel to move business from Arizona to Stamford, with state aid
Henkel, a German manufacturer of soaps, beauty products and industrial sealants, is expanding operations in Connecticut by moving its laundry and beauty divisions from Scottsdale, Ariz., to Stamford with the assistance of up to $20 million in forgivable loans from the state’s “First Five Plus” program.
Posted inPolitics
Murphy, other gun control advocates, in search of political wins
WASHINGTON — This political season, gun control advocates are bolstered by Hillary Clinton’s embrace of their issue and an increase in the political cash they’ve raised, even as they continue to be outgunned by the National Rifle Association when it comes to campaign spending.
Posted inEducation, Money
House leader ‘outraged’ by proposal to close 2 vo-tech schools
Updated at 2:57 p.m.
Calling it “short-sighted and irresponsible” to close at least two of the state’s vocational-technical high schools if state funding is cut, the majority leader of the state House of Representatives is calling on the governor’s office to reject a proposal made by his State Board of Education. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the proposal is very preliminary and challenged legislators to find alternatives.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The expectations gap dividing Connecticut’s schools
he gap dividing Connecticut’s schools is much more than wealth. I would argue that it is also a gap of expectations. A major problem driving what Judge Thomas Moukawsher so aptly called the Connecticut’s “ irrational” education and financing systems is the lack of expectations for all of its students. A student can still get a high school diploma and not be able to read and write. This is because all that a Connecticut student has to do is to pass the requisite number of courses prescribed by the district and the state. However, as has been made clear over time, passing a course does not require meeting any specific literacy standard.
Posted inHealth
Anthem and Yale Medicine reach contract deal
Yale Medicine and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield reached a new contract agreement Wednesday, averting the possibility that the large New Haven-area medical practice would leave the network of the state’s largest insurer later this week.
Posted inEducation
State education board eyes closing 2 vo-tech schools, other cuts
The State Board of Education Wednesday endorsed a proposal to close two of the state’s vocational technical high schools and end all athletic programs at the remaining ones if the department’s budget is cut by 10 percent in the next fiscal year – an amount the governor’s budget chief has told agencies is likely.
Posted inMoney
Malloy in talks with state unions to restructure payments owed pension fund
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration is in negotiations with state employee unions — but only over how to restructure payments Connecticut owes to its cash-starved employee pension system, not any changes in benefits or employee contributions.