By Cara Rosner Over a dozen of the cooperative health insurers that started under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have failed, but leaders of Connecticut’s co-op say it is on track to turn a profit…
By Kate Farrish The Board of Examiners for Nursing has recently disciplined 13 nurses, and in nearly all of the cases, the nurses were abusing drugs or alcohol that affected their ability to practice. After…
By Kate Farrish The state Board of Examiners for Nursing on Wednesday placed the registered nursing programs at three colleges on conditional status for one year because too many students have failed the R.N. licensing…
By Susan Campbell The incidence of suicide in nearly all age groups has increased by 24 percent since 1999—and by 200 percent among girls between the ages of 10 and 14. Theories behind such astounding…
By Lisa Chedekel The rate of denials by the state’s largest managed care insurers of requests for mental health services rose nearly 70 percent between 2013 and 2014, with an average of about one in 12…
By Kate Farrish Six nursing homes have been fined in connection with one resident who was physically abused, one who broke a leg and one who was hospitalized with severe dehydration and later died. In…
By Cara Rosner Health care organizations’ information technologies and workflows often don’t support each other, according to a patient care-focused nonprofit that flagged the problem as one of the top safety issues facing the industry….
By Jenifer Frank Nearly 60,000 Connecticut children under age 6 were reported with lead exposure in 2013, and an additional 2,275 children had high enough levels of the toxin in their blood to be considered…
By Lisa Chedekel Blacks and Hispanics are less likely than whites to get flu vaccines, have a preventive health care visit, or receive follow-up care after being hospitalized for a mental health disorder, according to…
By Cara Rosner The state has fined an Orange hospice facility $2,500 and ordered it to bring in an independent nurse consultant after inspections at the facility last year uncovered nearly two dozen violations. Compassus…
By Peggy McCarthy From his kitchen table in Italy via Skype, deported U.S. Army veteran Arnold Giammarco said the years apart from his family have been “devastating.”“It’s tough,” said Giammarco, a legal non-citizen veteran of…
By Lisa Chedekel Some newly enrolled veterans seeking a primary care appointment at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) wait more than 90 days before they see a provider, and the agency’s way of calculating…
By Lisa Chedekel More than 60 medical experts, state health directors and advocacy groups have asked federal Medicare officials to remove questions related to pain treatment from hospital patient surveys that are used to rate…
By Kate Farrish Seven nursing homes have been fined at least $1,200 in connection with residents who were verbally abused or who suffered cuts or broken bones. The state Department of Public Health (DPH) fined…
By Gary Stoller The high cost of insulin, which has risen by triple-digit percentages in the last five years, is endangering the lives of many diabetics who can’t afford the price tag, say Connecticut physicians…
By Kate Farrish A Stamford nursing home has been fined $5,160 in connection with its handling of emergency procedures when a resident died in January. And a Shelton nursing home was fined $3,000 in connection…
By Jennifer LaRue Thousands of Connecticut residents are prediabetic but don’t know it and if they did, doctors say, early detection and lifestyle changes could prevent diabetes from developing in most people at risk. The…
By Kate Farrish A dialysis center in Waterbury has been fined $5,000 by the state for numerous violations, including having a leaky roof and ceilings, clogged gutters, rusted chairs, expired nutritional supplements, a stained dialysis…
By Kate Farrish Five years ago, Presley Eze, a licensed practical nurse from West Hartford, was arrested outside Trader Joe’s when, police said, he was holding a long sword and appeared to be high on…
By Kate Farrish A Rhode Island doctor facing charges of video voyeurism and child pornography in that state has had his license to practice medicine in Connecticut suspended. The state Department of Public Health took…