One-year-olds and 18-year-olds are still wrongly losing Medicaid coverage because of administrative glitches and confusing notices, despite pledges from Department of Social Services officials to address the issues, according to the researchers who identified the problems.
The problem -- blamed in part on staff lost to retirements and antiquated technology -- is one of a slew of issues DSS is coping with, including facing potential federal sanctions over the state's food stamp program.
Read moreThe day after the annual legislative session ends is typically a time for all sides to declare victory, lament defeat, or spin one into the other. Below, our list of winners and losers from the 2012 session.
Not everything that didn’t get done is dead; legislators are expected to return for a special session in the coming weeks to vote on budget implementation bills that could incorporate proposals that didn’t get through in the regular session.
As the Senate voted 22-13 to give final approval late Tuesday to a revised $20.5 billion budget for next year, both parties saw state finances on the cusp of a major change.
There was no agreement on the nature of that change: Democrats see the budget closing small deficits and preserving vital services until a recovery, while Republicans predict that gimmicks in the plan mean another looming budget crisis.
Read moreGov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislative leaders used a mix of programmatic cuts, borrowing and a raid on transportation and other special funds to preserve nearly three-fourths of the governor's proposed education spending.
The state Senate voted 21-13 early Saturday to give final legislative approval to a bill that will make Connecticut the 17th state to legalize marijuana as a palliative for the chronically ill.
The bill, which passed 96-51 in the House, now heads to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat whose election in 2010 removed the last impediment to the bill becoming law. His Republican predecessor, M. Jodi Rell, vetoed legalization in 2007. Read more
The U.S. Department of Labor has advised the Malloy administration that opening Connecticut's state employee and retiree health plan to nonprofits and small businesses could jeopardize the legal protections it now enjoys as a government plan.
The advisory opinion sought by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy could undermine a health care pooling bill passed last year and an expansion proposed by House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan, D-Meriden, that is now awaiting action in the House.
A controversial proposal to give collective bargaining rights to certain home care workers and daycare providers is headed to the governor's desk after passage Thursday night by the Senate, completing a process begun less than seven months ago with two executive orders. The measure would allow unions representing daycare providers and personal care attendants paid through public programs to negotiate with the state.
Read more
After a lengthy debate centered on patient privacy, the House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a proposal to develop a statewide database of medical, dental and pharmacy claims information aimed at getting a comprehensive view of health care usage, cost and quality.
Key Democratic lawmakers have bristled at the governor's proposal to scale back a Medicaid program that serves some of the poorest adults in Connecticut. But in light of new budget figures released this week showing that the state has a nearly $200 million budget deficit, some said they're willing to consider changes.
For Mimi Galusha, taking care of her parents has meant leaving her job and draining her 401(k). For Arlenne O’Brien, it means worry and daily visits to make sure her mother is being properly cared for in a nursing home. For Arnold Francis, it’s been a matter of adjusting his expectations since his wife’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
Their stories vary, but in providing care to relatives, Galusha, O’Brien and Francis are among an estimated 486,000 state residents who form what experts call the backbone of the long-term care system, providing care valued in the billions of dollars out of a sense of obligation or choice.
And as the state’s population ages, Connecticut is going to need more people like them, just as demographic trends make their availability less certain.
This story is the result of a partnership between The Connecticut Mirror and WNPR. For an audio report by WNPR's Jeff Cohen, including interviews with a number of people in this story, click here.
Read moreThe House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted Wednesday night to legalize the production, distribution and use of marijuana as a palliative for the chronically ill, reviving Connecticut's role in a national debate. The final vote was 96-51.
The House approved a controversial proposal to give collective bargaining rights to certain home care workers and daycare providers Friday night, a matter that has galvanized union supporters and opponents, people with disabilities, child care providers and critics of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
The often debated question of whether to legalize marijuana use for palliative purposes took a different twist Friday as the legislature's tax-writing panel rejected an argument that this would be a drain on the state's coffers.
The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee voted 36-15 to adopt the bill, which now heads to the House of Representatives.
During the past several decades, medical journals have come under fire for exerting too much control over scientific information.
A new generation of publishers and researchers are challenging the traditional model of highly selective journals that charge hefty subscription fees. Instead, they say, their priorities are to get research out to the public as quickly as possible -- and to provide it for free. Some are even bypassing the journals altogether by posting preliminary results online.
This story, part two of a two-part series, is the result of a reporting partnership between The Connecticut Mirror and WNPR.
Read moreFor most of its 200-year history, the New England Journal of Medicine has been a bastion of the medical establishment, a prestigious outlet for the publication of research and clinical findings.
But in recent years, in large part because of the Internet and the national debate over health care reform, cries for transparency in medicine and health care have been getting louder -- and the New England Journal has found itself increasingly on the defensive.
This story, part one of a two-part series, is the result of a reporting partnership between The Connecticut Mirror and WNPR.
Read moreThe state legislature's tax-writing panel endorsed automated camera-issued motor vehicle tickets and Sunday liquor sales Monday, but the details behind both measures likely won't be ironed out until just before the full General Assembly adjourns next month.
In a dispute pitting the state's only freestanding children's hospital against the state's largest insurer, Connecticut Children's Medical Center announced Friday afternoon that it will no longer be in Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield's network as of Monday.
Children covered by Anthem will still be allowed to receive medical services at the hospital, but their families could be stuck with higher costs.
Read more
"We'd be in a lot of trouble without (the program)," said Dr. David Kloth, past president and executive director of the Connecticut Pain Society, and a pain management specialist who practices in Danbury and Waterbury.
"It is absolutely an essential part of managing pain patients today. The incidence of drug abuse in this country is epidemic."
Read more
They are a tiny slice of the population, less than 10 percent of those who are covered through the state's Medicaid program.
But a group of just over 57,500 people represents nearly 40 percent of the cost of Medicaid, the largest single item in the state budget. The group is covered by both Medicaid and Medicare, and their care costs more than $3 billion a year.
Despite the cost and dual coverage, the care they receive is often inadequate. State officials hope to design a better system and are applying to run a federal demonstration project that could net the state additional funding.
Read more
For the health policy world, the Supreme Court's tough questioning of the individual mandate last week was a seismic event.
But in Hartford, the city sometimes called the epicenter of the insurance industry, David Cordani, Cigna's CEO, isn't quaking. He says the insurance industry started changing itself before the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, and change will continue no matter what happens at the high court.
Read more"He brings experience. He's been elected."
Mike Clark on endorsing State Sen. Andrew Roraback for the Republican nomination for the 5th Congressional District race.
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