Connecticut officials have again extended health care coverage for more than 17,000 children and teenagers in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), this time through March 31. The program is known as HUSKY B in Connecticut.
Medicaid
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Shutdown impact on CT would depend on how long it lasts
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House approved a short-term spending bill late Thursday, but the legislation that would avert a government shutdown is expected to face a tough time in the Senate. A shutdown’s impact on Connecticut would depend on how long it lasts.
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Malloy vetoes Medicare program fix, calls it ‘wishful’ budgeting
In a largely symbolic act, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vetoed a bipartisan bill Monday to reverse cuts to the Medicare Savings Program, calling it an unbalanced exercise in “wishful thinking” that only would worsen projected budget deficits.
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New transportation contractor for Medicaid patients off to rocky start
Since Jan. 1, when a San Diego-based company called Veyo took over a program to drive Medicaid recipients to medical appointments, many patients have had to wait hours on hold when calling for rides; have missed or been late for critical medical appointments like dialysis, or were stranded at medical facilities when return rides didn’t arrive. The company is scrambling to fix the problems, its president said.
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Malloy says he won’t impose work requirements on Medicaid
WASHINGTON — Connecticut will not impose a work requirement on Connecticut Medicaid recipients, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said, even as the Trump administration moved Thursday to allow states to do so. “The fact remains that the majority of individuals on Medicaid are working people, or those that cannot work, such as seniors and people with disabilities,” Malloy said.
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Malloy would veto Medicare program fix as ‘budget gimmickry’
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy pledged Friday to veto the budget adjustment bill legislators are expected to adopt Monday, saying their plan to reverse cuts to the Medicare Savings Program exacerbates deficits already plaguing state finances.
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CT senators vow to fight for more aid for Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON – Congress is about to resume a bitter dispute about how much more federal help to provide Puerto Rico, where many residents are still without electricity or functioning schools or hospitals more than a hundred days after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, who just visited the island, said they are committed to sharply increasing aid to Puerto Rico.
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Malloy tries to head off Friday’s special legislative session
Hoping to focus legislators on closing a $224 million state budget deficit, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy suspended legislatively mandated cutbacks to a popular social services program for seniors and the disabled until July 1.
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Congress turns its sights on budget mess that has special impact in CT
WASHINGTON — Consumed by its effort to pass a federal tax overhaul this week, Congress has failed to pass a budget that would keep the federal government operating past midnight on Friday. Attempts to find a solution to this problem will have their impact in Connecticut, determining how long the state can continue a health program for children and how long its defense contractors can hire new workers.
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Medicare Savings Program cuts delayed by two months
Updated at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday
Lowered eligibility limits for the Medicare Savings Program, which uses Medicaid money to help low-income residents pay medical costs Medicare doesn’t cover, were supposed to go into effect on Jan. 1, but the Department of Social Services said Wednesday it will slow down implementation of the changes in response to concerns raised by the enrollees, advocates and legislators.
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Senate passes hospital tax fix
The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to fix a series of technical issues in the new state budget, including a flaw with the new hospital provider tax increase.
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CT budget cuts program that helps low-income and disabled Medicare patients
The two-year, bipartisan state budget signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy this week will cut Medicaid help for at least 68,000 Connecticut seniors and disabled individuals, a change decried by doctors and health care advocates in the state.
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Congress to miss deadline to renew CT children’s health program
WASHINGTON — Congress will miss a Saturday deadline to renew a program that provides 17,000 Connecticut children with health care coverage, but, in its latest accounting, the state’s Department of Social Services says it has enough money to continue the program into next year.
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GOP revises health care bill, but it still falters
WASHINGTON — The latest GOP attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would continue to ban insurers from rejecting people with pre-existing conditions, but make it easier for insurers to jack up the rates for those customers and for states to roll back other consumer safeguards. It would boost Medicaid money to a handful of states home to key GOP senators. But In what may be the biggest blow to the bill, Maine Sen. Susan Collins said late Monday she would oppose it.
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Congress under deadline pressure to renew health plan for 17,000 CT children
WASHINGTON — When Congress returns for its break next week it will decide whether to renew a health care program that covers 17,000 Connecticut children under 19. If it doesn’t, Connecticut will be among the first states to feel the impact.