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As a volunteer with the Public Health Committee for the past couple of weeks I’ve witnessed the hard work done by legislative aides and clerks. Without them, the system would not run as smoothly (or maybe it wouldn’t run at all). They do all the behind the scenes work, from scheduling appointment for legislators to…

I testified recently at an Appropriations Committee hearing for the Department of Social Services budget and found myself thinking about how inaccessible and intimidating the whole process is for “regular” people (those who aren’t advocates or testifying on behalf of their agencies). I had to be at the Legislative Office Building (LOB) by 9 am…

Check out Kevin Lembo’s new blog at http://www.healthcareadvocate-kevin.blogspot.com. Kevin is CT’s State Health Care Advocate in his day job. Fascinating take on federal and state health care updates. He points out that this is his personal blog, not an official State of CT site. Thankfully so — makes it much more interesting.Ellen Andrews

The CT Health Policy Project has been experiencing technical difficulties with our website and with emails. The problems have been fixed, but it is possible that the last 48 hours of emails to us may be lost. If you sent something critical, please send it again. Thank you for your patience.

Last week, the FDA approved the drug Latisse for “hypotrichosis of the eyelashes” according to the Wall Street Journal Health Blog. What’s that? It’s “another name for having inadequate or not enough eyelashes.” Honest. The company that makes Latisse also makes another critical health care treatment, Botox.Happy New Year everyone from the CT Health Policy…

It’s important to recognize people when they are helpful and good at their jobs, especially at DSS. Over the last couple of weeks four people at DSS have been exceptional and we wanted to thank them. One analyst I called for information ran an independent data analysis for me, and when he learned more about…

I received a phone call on Tuesday from a Communications Officer in the Commissioners Office of the Department of Social Services. She was concerned about my blog posted on Monday, which mentions the difficulty I had with the general phone number at one of the DSS regional offices. She explained that there is a toll…

I started working with the CT Health Policy Project a few weeks ago and I’ve been familiarizing myself with the types of calls that come into our consumer helpline. So far, what I’ve observed is that for people without health insurance, their options are usually limited. The system of care available to them is fragmented…

We are pleased to announce two additions to the CT Health Policy Project community. Jen Ramirez, MSW has joined us as Director of Programs. Jen will be in charge of the Consumer Health Action Network, including newsletters, surveys and advocacy, as well as several policy areas. Jen has worked at the Latino Policy Institute of…

The provider forum on PCCM planned for October 22nd at Windham Hospital has been cancelled.To learn more about the program, come to either the October 21st forum in New Haven (at our offices at 703 Whitney Avenue in New Haven) or the October 23rd forum in Hartford (at DSS’ offices, 25 Sigourney Street in Hartford).…