Connecticut Press Coverage

• September 08, 2010 | from ConnecticutPlus.com New state law bans pesticides on school grounds Grassroots Environmental Education, a national environmental health non-profit organization, announced today that it will conduct a series of professional turf training programs for school turf managers in Connecticut to help them comply with the state's new law prohibiting the use of chemical pesticides on school playing fields for grades K-8 and daycare centers.
• September 02, 2010 | from NorwichBulletin.com Fight against childhood obesity getting support from grants, initiatives On May 20, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution mirroring one approved by the Senate establishing September as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. This legislation is one of the latest voices to join the growing chorus of individuals and organizations attempting to call attention to the crisis of childhood obesity.
• August 18, 2010 | from The Hartford Courant New Community Program Addresses Childhood Behavioral Health Needs newly formed partnership program among a group of community organizations will provide early identification of behavioral health needs and early intervention for children during their elementary school years.
• August 03, 2010 | from Danbury News Times Census finds uninsured rate in Connecticut low Fairfield County, Connecticut, is no Henry County, Iowa -- at least not when it comes to residents living without health insurance.
• July 31, 2010 | from Connecticut Plus Saint Raphael’s-based nutrition program helps families afford healthy foods Connecticut women who meet income guidelines and need help providing their children with nutrient-rich foods can turn to the Hospital of Saint Raphael and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
• July 23, 2010 | from Norwalk Plus Dodd to hold Connecticut hearing on children and families On Monday, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) will continue his look into the challenges facing our children and their families, and the tools they need to succeed in today’s society with a field hearing at the Yale Child Study Center.
• July 19, 2010 | from Public News Service Blueprints for Babies, and Other Young Children Twenty-three cities and towns in Connecticut have developed detailed plans - called "blueprints" - for quality care and education of young children.
• July 19, 2010 | from New Britain Harold Helping city’s youngest Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance was hailed as a leader in childhood development
• July 19, 2010 | from The Connecticut Mirror New Medicaid patients could test state's physician network Connecticut stands to see its Medicaid patient caseload surge starting in 2014 as national health care legislation opens the door to as many as 150,000 new patients over a six-year period, according to a new study.
• June 21, 2010 | from HHS.gov Connecticut First in Nation to Expand Medicaid Coverage to New Groups Under the Affordable Care Act Connecticut is the first state in the nation to permanently add low-income adults to its Medicaid program under the new Affordable Care Act, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today.
• June 07, 2010 | from Connecticutplus.com Governor Rell bans cadmium in children’s jewelry Governor M. Jodi Rell announced that she has signed a bill into law that will enact significant restrictions on cadmium in children's jewelry.
• June 07, 2010 | from The Bristol Press Rell signs bill establishing hospital network Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a bill that establishes an innovative, far-reaching health network of hospitals in the region.
• June 03, 2010 | from CT News Junkie Help is on the way for Connecticut residents with pre-existing conditions More than 593,000 Connecticut residents have been diagnosed with at least one condition that would likely disqualify them from individual coverage. The new health care reform act will address this problem.
• April 22, 2010 | from The Daily Campus Gov. Rell creates health care cabinet Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced that she has established a reform cabinet to ensure that state-administered health programs meet the goals and requirements of the recently passed national health care reform bill.
• April 13, 2010 | from Hartford Courant Conn. child welfare agency seeks to end oversight The state of Connecticut on Tuesday asked a federal court to end 20 years of federal oversight of its child welfare agency, arguing that the state has made significant progress toward reducing caseloads, expanding the agency's budget and making more services available to troubled families.
• April 12, 2010 | from Connecticutplus.com Connecticut seeking new federal health care dollars Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that her administration is taking swift action aimed at saving Connecticut taxpayers at least $53 million under the national health care reform legislation.
• April 12, 2010 | from The Hour Tackling childhood obesity New York Jets wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery paid a visit to Stamford Hospital's Tully Health Center where he announced the receipt of a $400,000 donation and the launch of its Strong Heart: Healthy Children initiative.
• April 08, 2010 | from The Hartford Courant Federal Health Care Reform: Help On The Way For Older Children One of the provisions of the historic health care legislation signed by President Barack Obama two weeks ago requires insurers to extend coverage to unmarried children of insured families until the age of 26, a benefit that is scheduled to take effect this fall.
• March 23, 2010 | from PR Newswire Pew Report: Connecticut is a National Leader in Addressing Children's Dental Health Connecticut is a national leader in addressing the dental health needs of its children, according to a report released by the Pew Center on the States.
• March 22, 2010 | from The Boston Globe Conn. health care plan still moving forward Proponents of a proposed universal health care system for Connecticut say the program is still needed despite the newly passed federal health care overall in Washington.
• March 22, 2010 | from WFSB.com School-Based Health Centers Facing Cuts Officials at school-based health centers are worried that $1 million in cuts this year and more the next will severely affect care for students.
• March 22, 2010 | from The Hartford Courant State Schools Part Of Initiative To Combat Childhood Obesity About 25.7 percent of Connecticut children ages 10-17 are obese or overweight, according to a report released last year by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
• March 08, 2010 | from The Register Citizen Congress urged to extend Medicaid Social services providers, researchers and state legislators Friday urged Congress to pass a pending jobs bill that would extend the provision of federal funds supporting Medicaid.
• February 26, 2010 | from Bignews.biz DeLauro Praises Support for Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro praises Tom Vilsack for his remarks in support of the Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization at a National Press Club luncheon
• February 24, 2010 | from The Hartford Courant State Named A 'National Leader' In Children's Dental Health Report Connecticut earned an "A" for its policies on children's dental health, according to a study released today by The Pew Center on the States.
• February 16, 2010 | from The Hartford Courant Tough Times? Stiff The Vulnerable Overall, the governor's proposed cuts aren't as deep as the ones she suggested in December, but her target remains children, youth and families.
• February 10, 2010 | from The Hartford Courant State Health Advocates Applaud Michelle Obama's Campaign Against Childhood Obesity Dr. Elizabeth Estrada praised the proposed changes in Obama's "Let's Move" campaign, particularly the efforts to improve school food and promote physical activity.
• February 08, 2010 | from NorwalkPlus.com February is “National Children’s Dental Health Month" The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) is encouraging parents and guardians to become knowledgeable about proper oral health care in order to make a difference for themselves and their children.
• January 25, 2010 | from The Hartford Courant For People With No Health Insurance, One Day Of Free Care Feb. 3 will be Hartford's turn for a one-day free medical clinic for people with no health insurance. The National Association of Free Clinics, which has been hosting similar events throughout the country since September, and hundreds of volunteers will set up at the Connecticut Convention Center from noon to 7 p.m. Organizers expect to draw about 1,000 patients.
• January 21, 2010 | from ConnecticutPlus.com Give your children something to smile about On February 5th, Dr. Jack DeGrado and Stamford Dental Group will join the national initiate known as Give Kids A Smile and will be offering children free dental care.
• January 21, 2010 | from Tribuna Judge reinstates HUSKY for 4,800 legal immigrants Hartford Judge Grant Miller ruled that the state's action to cut health coverage for adult legal immigrants was unconstitutional. DSS is again accepting applications from legal immigrant adults and the 4,823 people cut off the program will get notices that they are reinstated.
• December 31, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant Autism coverage, wage hike among new Conn. laws Group health insurance policies are now required to cover the diagnosis of autism disorders -- which can cost thousands of dollars -- as well as behavioral therapy for children age 14 years and younger, certain prescription drugs, psychiatric, psychological and therapy services.
• December 26, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant HUSKY Insurance Program Offering A New Option More than 100,000 state residents in the HUSKY insurance program are getting a new option for their health coverage, a model that takes away the insurance company.
• December 22, 2009 | from The Associated Press Social services survive Conn. budget axe -- for now School-based health clinics, daycare programs for the needy and stem cell research programs are all getting a reprieve in the deficit-cutting plan passed by Connecticut's legislative Democrats.
• December 19, 2009 | from The Nashua Telegraph Conn. children’s program at core of budget debate Connecticut officials have agreed to keep a children’s mental health service operating while a judge considers an appeal to save it from state budget cuts.
• December 14, 2009 | from The Connecticut Post Childhood Obesity - A long, complicated fight begins The city of Danbury has formed a new organization called the Coalition for Healthy Kids, which tries to bring together every element in the community that the childhood obesity epidemic touches.
• October 22, 2009 | from Hartford Courant Some In-State Hospitals May Be Out Of Aetna's Network Beginning Next Year Hartford Hospital, MidState Medical Center and Windham Hospital could be out of Aetna's network beginning next year unless the insurer and the hospitals' parent company reach an agreement on reimbursement rates.
• October 12, 2009 | from Hartford Business Journal Child Poverty Will Cost State This week, the newly formed Speaker’s Task Force on Children in the Recession convened at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford to begin its work to stymie the tidal wave of harm which may engulf the young people in our state as a result of the recession.
• September 23, 2009 | from Yale Daily News Few city children are uninsured Compared to those who live in neighboring cities, New Haven residents fare relatively well in terms of insurance coverage, new data suggest.
• September 10, 2009 | from The Connecticut Post Census: Income down, poverty and uninsured up nationwide In Connecticut, poverty rates and the number of uninsured all remained fairly steady.
• August 27, 2009 | from Fox Business AmeriChoice by UnitedHealthcare and Waterbury Hospital to Provide Services to HUSKY Participants AmeriChoice by UnitedHealthcare and Waterbury Hospital have announced an agreement that will provide participants in Connecticut's HUSKY health insurance program access to the hospital's inpatient and outpatient facilities.
• August 17, 2009 | from The Hour New center offers pediatric specialty services Danbury Hospital is openign the Children's Health and Wellness Center to provide families easy access to pediatric specialists in diabetes, asthma, behavioral health.
• August 12, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant Rell's Proposed Cuts To Child Advocate Office Are Decried A number of elected officials and representatives of child- and family-service organizations have signed an open letter to Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and state legislators, opposing Rell's proposed budget cuts to the state's Office of the Child Advocate.
• July 23, 2009 | from The Greenwich Post Governor inks student health bill at Ham Ave Gov. M. Jodi Rell officially signed into law a bill requiring the state's Department of Education to develop guidelines making it easier for children to have access to medicine for extreme allergic reactions.
• July 15, 2009 | from Hartford Courant State Thinner But Not Thin Rell veto of calorie law doesn't help fat fight
• July 09, 2009 | from ConnecticutPlus.com Governor Rell vetoes ‘Pooling,’ SustiNet bills; creates health care reform advisory board Governor M. Jodi Rell has vetoed bills that would have established a Board of Directors to implement a health insurance program called SustiNet and opened the state employee health insurance program to non-state employees. At the same time, Governor Rell issued an Executive Order establishing a Health Care Reform Advisory Board.
• June 24, 2009 | from New Haven Register Rell asked to sign 2 health bills Small-business owners begged Gov. M. Jodi Rell Tuesday to sign two health care bills they say will extend coverage and cut costs, while several hundred advocates rallied outside the Capitol against cuts in Medicaid programs for the poor and disabled.
• June 15, 2009 | from New Haven Register Nutrition programs for children could improve The Child Nutrition and WIC Act, due to be renewed in Congress this year, brings a lot of federal funding to our state and allows us to provide children with the nutrition they need to learn and grow.
• June 03, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant State's Autism Reform Efforts Gaining Traction The bipartisan passing of a landmark bill to expand health insurance for children on the autism spectrum puts Connecticut among the country's leaders in forward-thinking states on this matter.
• May 30, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant Senate Approves Two Controversial Healthcare Bills Saturday The state Senate approved a health "pooling'' bill that would allow municipalities, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations to join the state employees' gigantic healthcare pool and the SustiNet universal health care bill.
• May 29, 2009 | from Progressive States Network "Obama-Ready" Public Health Insurance Plans Approved by CT House Last week, the Connecticut House of Representatives passed two bills that proponents say will make Connecticut "Obama-ready" for national health care reform being debated in Congress. Most notably, each CT bill would create the choice of a public health insurance plan in the state.
• May 27, 2009 | from Connpolitics.tv House votes to require autism coverage Connecticut has moved closer to requiring group health insurance policies to cover the cost of diagnosing and treating autism in young children.
• May 26, 2009 | from Governor M. Jodi Rell Governor Rell signs bill requiring cystic fibrosis screening in newborns Governor M. Jodi Rell signed a bill that requires birthing hospitals to screen newborns for cystic fibrosis.
• May 23, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant Proposed BPA Chemical Ban Passes Connecticut House The Connecticut House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill Friday to ban certain products containing bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical commonly used in plastic containers used by babies and children.
• May 20, 2009 | from Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut Timely New Report Cites Crucial Linkage Between Early Childhood Healthcare The Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut (CHDI) recently published a comprehensive report entitled A Framework for Child Health Services, Supporting the Healthy Development and School Readiness of Connecticut's Children.
• May 19, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant Changing HUSKY Rules Hurts Most Vulnerable Budget proposals from Gov. M. Jodi Rell would assess new HUSKY co-payments on many children and parents and would drop state coverage for any immigrant families who have lawfully resided in the U.S. for less than five years.
• May 15, 2009 | from The Connecticut Post Help for kids with autism advances Health-insurance companies would be required to cover the costs of diagnosis and critical therapies for children with the spectrum of autism, which affects one in 115 kids in Connecticut, under legislation that was approved Friday afternoon in the Senate.
• May 13, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant Bill Would Provide Insurance Pool For Catastrophic Health Care A "catastrophic medical expenses pool" bill is advancing through the Connecticut legislature, which aims to help some insured families meet their kids' vast health needs.
• May 06, 2009 | from The New York Times Measure to Restrict BPA Moving to State Senate A bill to phase out the use of BPA in Connecticut passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 128 to 14 last month. The Senate may vote on the measure this week.
• April 02, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant Critics Say Rell's Proposed Cuts To Medicaid Go Against Spirit Of Federal Stimulus To accept $1.3 billion in federal Medicaid stimulus money, Gov. M. Jodi Rell will have to scrap $22.1 million worth of proposed Medicaid cuts — including a plan to charge premiums to more Medicaid recipients.
• February 27, 2009 | from The Norwich Bulletin Northeastern Connecticut dentists go mobile for students The Generations Family Health Center’s mobile dental is the most visible part of its Across the Smiles program, which last year made 3,200 dental visits at 29 sites throughout northeast Connecticut.
• February 25, 2009 | from WTNH.com New law requires lead screening In an effort to reduce children's exposure to toxic levels of lead, a new law in Connecticut requires all primary care providers to screen children under the age of three.
• February 18, 2009 | from Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Beneficiaries, Advocates Criticize Connecticut Gov. Rell's Proposed Changes to HUSKY Proposed changes to Connecticut's HUSKY A program could lead low-income state residents to drop health coverage or delay needed medical care, which could lead to higher costs for the state in the future, according to critics of the plan.
• February 12, 2009 | from Westport News Federal funding will benefit Connecticut children The S-CHIP expansion will insure an additional 24,700 Connecticut children and, in so doing, reduce the children's uninsured rate in the state by 43 percent.
• January 31, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant Some Legislators Assail HUSKY Health Care Changes More than a dozen lawmakers on Friday warned that thousands of vulnerable residents in the HUSKY health insurance program could struggle to get health care because of what they called premature changes to HUSKY that take effect Sunday.
• January 22, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant Close Children's Facility, A Top GOP Lawmaker Urges With its budget deficit ballooning, the state should shut down the Riverview psychiatric hospital for children because — at $862,000 per child per year — it is too expensive to operate, the Senate Republican leader said Wednesday.
• January 15, 2009 | from Connecticut Post Kids' health insurance plan gets boost On Wednesday the House approved an SCHIP reauthorization bill 289-139, with the entire Connecticut delegation voting in favor. It now goes to the Senate, where passage is expected.
• January 13, 2009 | from The Hartford Courant A Fresh Call For Health Insurance Reform Today in Hartford the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut unveils its proposal calling for major changes in the health system and a plan that the group says could insure 98 percent of state residents by 2014.
• December 30, 2008 | from The Hartford Courant HUSKY Program Households Told To Switch Networks The state Department of Social Services is mailing notices to approximately 60,000 households enrolled in the HUSKY health insurance program telling them that they must switch to a new managed care network by Feb. 1. The change is staunchly opposed by advocates who say the new networks don't have enough doctors.
• December 10, 2008 | from Connecticut Post Child advocates: Protect kids from budget cuts Child advocates from more than 70 organizations descended on the Capitol complex Wednesday to tell lawmakers and the governor that kids should be considered an important part of the state's' "infrastructure."
• November 15, 2008 | from The Hartford Courant State Congressional Members Seek HUSKY Moratorium Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Friday reversed a contentious plan that required doctors and hospitals wanting to participate in Connecticut's insurance program for children to join her new program for uninsured adults.
• August 27, 2008 | from The Hartford Courant Putting Kids' Benefits At Risk Despite recommendations to do otherwise, Gov. M. Jodi Rell has changed the Husky program — insurance for the state's children and youths — and linked it with her new Charter Oak Health Care, which is supposed to provide insurance for all. People like Lawrence must move to another insurance plan.
• August 21, 2008 | from The Day Panel wants Rell health plan put on hold Advisory group says policy not fully ready, but governor says timetable won't change.
• July 17, 2007 | from The New Haven Register DeLauro blasts Bush health care plans, wants to boost spending Health care officials and advocates came together to push for extension of the federal State Children's Health Insurance Program.
• March 05, 2007 | from News Channel 8 / WTNH.com Insuring Connecticut's children There are thousands of uninsured children and leaders at both the state and federal level are calling for an expansion of the HUSKY health care program.
• March 05, 2007 | from Representative Joe Courtney Rep. Courtney Leads Effort to Improve Children's Health Care Congressman Joe Courtney announced today that he has signed on as an original cosponsor of the Healthy Kids Act.