Diane Levick reports this week for the Hartford Courant on a study of how we pay for health care.
Excerpt:
The cost-shifting is a crucial piece of the health care reform puzzle, and the findings arrive as the debate forges ahead in Congress and state legislatures in Connecticut and around the nation.
Aetna CEO Ronald A. Williams told the press conference that if cost-shifting is eliminated, “then we will be in a position where hospitals and other health care professionals need smaller increases in order to viably operate their businesses and practices and be there as a good, stable delivery system in that community.”
Williams noted, though, that Medicare and Medicaid also cause cost-shifting to private insurance by paying what many medical providers consider inadequate reimbursement to them.
Tonight we differ from our normal Common Council coverage because, sadly, the battery on my macbook was expended on the whirlwind of meetings concerning pARTy in the park. What’s that? Norwalk’s Art Commission is hosting a one day arts festival on June 20th. Click over here for more details.
So it was the old fashioned, blogger with a pen in the council chambers. And the common council meeting only ran long because of an executive session where they discussed something with no action. See the agenda here for details.
At around 3:30pm Sunday, Norwalk Police and Fire crews responded to an area of the Norwalk River known as Deering Pond. A 34-year-old man, his 10-year-old son and a 20-year-old family friend had been fishing. The young boy was playing in knee deep water when he apparently lost his balance and was swept into the water.
Both of the adults jumped into the river to help him.
I’ll repeat the only important fact that any legislator in Hartford should pay attention to. 48% of all income taxes for the State of Connecticut come from Fairfield County. So when the debate, as it’s portrayed in the Courant, centers on whether a commuter busway or commuter rail system should be built I say why bother? The economic engine of Connecticut is Fairfield County and it’s time our tax dollars stop subsidizing the sprawl of Hartford County.
The Courant article talks about the feud now simmering over New Britain’s plans for a busway and plans for a Waterbury to Hartford commuter rail. Both plans call for using state owned land in Bristol. The fight:
You too can take the test. I did. While talking on the phone no less, I scored a 100%. If I only I took the test while driving and talking on the phone, maybe then I could lower my score to the CT average of 74.4%. How did you do?
The legislature voted to repeal the death penalty, fortunately Governor Rell has chosen to veto the repeal. The Courant reports:
“I appreciate the passionate beliefs of people on both sides of the death penalty debate. I fully understand the concerns and deeply held convictions of those who would like to see the death penalty abolished in Connecticut,” she said in a statement.
“However, I also fully understand the anguish and outrage of the families of victims who believe, as I do, that there are certain crimes so heinous — so fundamentally revolting to our humanity — that the death penalty is warranted.”
You would think that with the state of Connecticut facing a huge budget crisis that entertaining any discussion of implementing tolls might be a bad idea. But with legislative elections every two years, legislators are eager to make their mark. Unfortunately for the mere residents of the state. There really was only one thing that legislators needed to focus on this session, and that was reducing the operating costs of government in the face of declining operating revenues. Yet, time and money was spent examining tolls on Connecticut’s highways.
According to the Advocate, the CT Senate has passed a bill enabling municipalities to create laws that fine drivers for blocking intersections. Those of you familiar with NYC’s “Don’t Block The Box” campaign will recognize what the bill is intending, better traffic flow. The original bill was targeted at municipalities over 50,000 residents, but some Senate legislators wanted to expand the bill to cover all towns and municipalities. That apparently was a sticking point.
