Despite the differences, Cardona received some bipartisan support during his confirmation hearing to become U.S. education secretary.
HELP Committee
Posted inNews
CDC gives CT an Oct. 16 deadline, and $2.4 million, to come up with a COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan
Lamont is creating a panel to develop a COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan. The CDC wants it in three weeks.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Attacked by Trump, insurers tout economic impact in CT, other states
WASHINGTON — Under attack from President Donald Trump, the nation’s insurers hit back Monday with a report aimed at showing the industry’s impact on the U.S. economy and the economies of every state, including Connecticut, where it said health insurers are a $1.15 billion business.
Posted inHealth, Politics
GOP effort to repeal Obamacare dies, but Murphy expects new challenges
WASHINGTON — While GOP Senate leaders threw in the towel Tuesday on their latest attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Sen. Chris Murphy said he expects new challenges to the Obama-era health care law. “I don’t think Republicans can quit this,” Murphy said.
Posted inHealth, Politics
CT’s Wade weighs in with Obamacare fixes
As a key U.S. Senate panel continues to seek a bipartisan fix for the Affordable Care Act, the Connecticut Insurance Department weighed in with its suggestions, including allowing people to buy a new, cheaper, “copper-level” plan with fewer benefits and higher out-of-pocket costs.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Senate tries for a bipartisan compromise on Obamacare fixes
WASHINGTON — A Senate panel began on Wednesday the first of four hearings aimed at finding ways to shore up the Affordable Care Act’s fragile insurance markets, but reforms could be limited and come too late to help Connecticut’s marketplace, Access Health CT.
Posted inHealth
New Obamacare replacement plan would hurt CT, report says
WASHINGTON – A proposal by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy to replace the Affordable Care Act would increase the number of uninsured nationwide, cut Medicaid and have a particularly costly impact on Connecticut and a handful of other states, a new study says.
Posted inHealth, Politics
FDA nominee Gottlieb says he’d challenge Trump on vaccines
WASHINGTON — Scott Gottlieb, a Westport doctor, calmly defused tough questions from Democrats during the confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to head the Food and Drug Administration, promising to safeguard the agency’s rigorous review of drug and medical devices.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Westporter Gottlieb to face Senate scrutiny of his bid to head FDA
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chris Murphy will introduce Scott Gottlieb, a Westport resident and candidate to head the Food and Drug Administration, to fellow members of the Senate panel that’s key to his confirmation – but that won’t keep the nominee from having a bit of a rough ride among Democrats.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Murphy presses DeVos on guns in schools
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chris Murphy asked Betsy DeVos, President- elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the U.S. Department of Education, if she believed guns belonged in or around schools. “I believe that’s best left to the locales and states,” she answered.
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 inEducation, Politics
CT joins lobbying fray over new federal education rule
WASHINGTON – Connecticut has joined a lobbying effort to change how federal money for schools with large populations of poor or disadvantaged students is distributed. The new regulation would bar school districts from “supplanting” the money they give to schools with poor students with federal money aimed at “supplementing” local funding.
Posted inEducation, Politics
State official says federal policy changes cut 6,100 from subsidized day care
WASHINGTON — The move to improve a child care subsidy program that helps low-and-moderate income families has also made it more expensive and forced Connecticut to cut 6,100 children from the rolls, a state official told a Senate panel Wednesday.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Murphy presses for action on mental health bill despite obstacles
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chris Murphy and Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana have bipartisan support for a bill that would reform the nation’s mental health system and are pressing for Senate action on the legislation. But they are facing hurdles common to those who push for change on Capitol Hill.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Teachers object to Obama administration plan for poor schools
WASHINGTON — As the Obama administration rolls out rules on how to implement the nation’s new federal education law, one proposal could shake up how money is spent on schools in the state’s poor neighborhoods.