Junk food makers may be open to national limits in schools

Rising childhood obesity rates and easing resistance from the food industry may result in meaningful national legislation to limit junk food in schools according to today’s Washington Post. CT was a national leader in 2005 passing a ban on soda in schools, which was vetoed by the Governor. In 2006, the legislature passed and the…

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CT on health reform.gov

On Friday, President Obama’s website tracking health care reform published state-specific pages making the case for reform. CT’s numbers aren’t surprising, but it’s another source for info. Family premiums in CT approximately equal the entire wages of a full time minimum wage worker. Employers offering coverage is dropping, health care costs are skyrocketing, and the…

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Senate passes a budget, Governor expected to veto

Yesterday the Senate passed a Democratic budget spending $35.5 billion over the next two years. The fiscal year ends next Tuesday. The Democratic budget saves health coverage for legal immigrants, the current definition of medical necessity for Medicaid, and increases cigarette taxes by 75 cents per pack to $2.75. The budget also takes $50 million…

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SustiNet rally and vigil

Tuesday the SustiNet and Health Care Partnership bills were delivered to the Governor for her to sign (hopefully). The next day, the Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Health Care organized a vigil and rally to encourage the Governor to sign the bill. They started with a vigil outside the Governor’s office and then walked from there,…

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Former insurance executive tells the truth

We haven’t been blogging much on national health reform here at CT Health Notes. No need for it – that space is crowded with great blogs at the national level. Like everyone else, we’ve been following them and “official” developments closely. But yesterday something extraordinary happened. A former insider at two large insurance companies opened…

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Governor vetoes common sense consumer protection

There is a loophole in the current CT law that doesn’t allow insurance companies to cancel your health insurance policy just when you need it. But Monday the Governor vetoed a bill to close that loophole. In 2007, CT passed PA 07-113, An Act Concerning Postclaims Underwriting, which was meant to stop insurers from claiming…

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Physician signing bonuses favor primary care, but salaries still lag

A new report on physician searches by a large recruiter shows a growing use of bonuses to attract providers. The strongest growth in searches is among family practice, general internal medicine and pediatrics. 85% of searches include signing bonuses averaging $24,850. 98% also include relocation allowances averaging $10,427. Other incentives include continuing medical education pay,…

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Patient-Centered Medical Homes: How they can help CT’s health care system

Medical homes have been proposed as a critical piece of health care reform at both the national and state level. Medical homes are not buildings or hospitals, but a different way of practicing medicine. Care in a medical home is centered on the patient, not the health care system; it is customized for that person’s…

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Patient Centered Medical Home Briefing Today

Patient-centered medical homes have been featured in health care reform proposals at both the federal and state levels. Medical homes have enormous potential to both improve the quality of health care and reduce costs. Join us for a briefing today on what the concept is and what it could mean for Connecticut. Hear from medical…

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CT Health Foundation internship

The CT Health Foundation is offering a paid internship for a graduate or professional student. The job includes research, policy tracking and attending hearings/ press conferences. For more information and to apply go to http://cthealth.org/matriarch/MultiPiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_359_A_PageName_E_healthpolicyintern. The deadline is August 14th.

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