Thousands of marchers from Connecticut joined a massive protest the day after President Donald Trump took the oath of office, saying they have to protect the environment, health care, women’s rights and a wide range of issues they say are under attack in the new administration.
Affordable Care Act
Posted inHealth
CT exchange wants to require broker commissions for health plans
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.
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 inHealth, Politics
Insurers: Repeal of ACA should go slowly, keep subsidies awhile
WASHINGTON – As Republicans in Congress begin work on a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the nation’s health insurers are telling lawmakers to keep paying subsidies to the companies and to low-income Americans so they can afford coverage. Insurers are also asking that Congress create a long transition period before changes to the ACA take effect.
Posted inHealth
Access Health says 104,495 signed up for insurance that began Jan. 1
That figure represents customers who met the first coverage deadline for Obamacare plans, Dec. 15.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Malloy to Congress: Obamacare repeal would be ‘disastrous’
But the governor also said he would work with Congress to make improvements to the existing health care system, and Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade recommended several areas for improving the federal health law.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Murphy tries, but fails, to block ACA repeal
WASHINGTON — Congress has taken the first step toward repealing the Affordable Care Act, and Sen. Chris Murphy on Thursday was on the front lines of Democratic efforts to stop, or at least slow, the process. “There is a cruelty to this enthusiasm for immediate repeal that is a little bit hard to understand,” Murphy said.
Posted inHealth
What ‘repeal-replace’ could mean for your employer health plan
If you’re like most Connecticut residents and get your health insurance through an employer, chances are the future of Obamacare doesn’t have nearly as much bearing on your coverage. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing at stake for you as federal lawmakers look to repeal and replace the health law.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal, CT House members, sworn in on fractious first day of Congress
WASHINGTON – Sen. Richard Blumenthal was sworn in to his second six-year term in the U.S. Senate, and all five Democratic House members from Connecticut began a new term as well, as the 115th Congress was gaveled in on Tuesday.
Posted inHealth
5 health care stories to watch in the 2017 legislative session
From an ailing state budget to potential changes in the way the state oversees what services hospitals deliver, state lawmakers will be dealing with a variety of health-related issues during the upcoming legislative session. Here are five to keep an eye on.
Posted inHealth
Hospitals worry Medicaid, Obamacare changes could bring pain
With the potential for major changes in federal health care policy looming, hospital leaders are watching closely, worried especially that cuts to Medicaid could bring a big financial hit and that a repeal of Obamacare could raise the number of uninsured Connecticut residents.
Posted inHealth
Aetna-Humana antitrust trial wraps up before questioning judge
WASHINGTON — The antitrust trial over a proposed merger between Aetna and Humana wrapped up Wednesday, with U.S. District Court Judge John Bates asking probing questions of both Justice Department lawyers seeking to block the deal and attorneys for the insurers defending their plan.
Posted inHealth
CT Obamacare sign-up deadline extended to Saturday
Updated 1:35 p.m.
Thursday had been the deadline for people to sign up for private insurance plans that would begin covering them Jan. 1. The exchange is extending that deadline to Dec. 17 at midnight.
Posted inHealth
522,000 CT adults have a pre-existing condition, analysis says
Nearly one in four Connecticut adults have a health condition that probably would make them unable to buy insurance through the individual market without protections for people with pre-existing conditions, such as those created by Obamacare, according to an analysis released Monday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Posted inHealth, Justice
DOJ says Aetna left ACA marketplaces in reaction to merger suit
Updated at 6:35 p.m.
WASHINGTON — Justice Department attorneys on Monday continued to try to undercut arguments by Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini that his company’s Medicare Advantage program competes with government-run Medicare.