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CT health providers work to curb HUSKY losses from ‘Big Beautiful’ bill
Katy Golvala, The Connecticut Mirror, Aug. 19
Some Connecticut health care providers and local officials are setting up programs to curb coverage losses when Medicaid work requirements take effect in January. Stamford Health is teaming up with the mayor’s office and nonprofits across the city to launch the HUSKY Stay Covered Task Force. The goal is to make residents aware of the upcoming changes through advertising and door-knocking while making community health workers available across the city to answer questions. They will also connect people with work and volunteer opportunities to help them stay covered.
SNAP enrollments plunge in CT following federal changes, report finds
Sujata Srinivasan, Connecticut Public Radio, Aug. 21
Enrollment in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program fell by more than 17% in Connecticut following the passage last year of H.R. 1, the signature legislation backed by the Trump administration. According to a new report, the decline exceeds initial projections from the Department of Social Services. “We are seeing impacts at nearly every town in the state — urban, rural, suburban,” said Ruchi Sheth, a research and policy associate at Connecticut Voices. “All age groups, children, seniors and adults. It’s nearly 63,000 people.” Sheth said the decline is not a one-time effect; rather, it is persistent.
How Trump’s cuts are reshaping America’s health system
Daniel Payne, KFF Health News, Aug. 25
The full impacts of the $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid over the next decade won’t be felt for years, but across the country, many parts of the health care system are already racing to prepare. The cuts are projected to hit rural states the hardest. In Maine, for example, some health systems are preparing to cut services or close facilities. “The outlook is not good. We think the outlook is going to get worse if Congress doesn’t reverse cuts to Medicaid,” said James Jarvis, president of the Maine Medical Association. “How do we take care of a population if we don’t have the resources needed to do that?”
Cheaper health insurance changed their lives. Then it went away.
Shalina Chatlani, Stateline, Aug. 25
Since enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies expired, coverage has become more expensive, and participation nationwide has declined by nearly 3 million people. Few, if any, states are feeling the absence of the subsidies as acutely as Mississippi. When the subsidies made coverage more affordable, the number of Mississippians enrolled in an ACA plan more than tripled. In its 2025 public health report card, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported lower rates of opioid-related deaths and HIV, among other conditions. When the subsidies expired, enrollment plunged and experts say the health impacts are likely to follow.
Americans spend more than 2.5 hours in the ER
Maya Goldman, Axios, Aug. 25
Patients now spend an average of more than two and a half hours in hospital emergency departments, and visits have been getting longer in nearly half of the states, new federal data show. Experts worry that upcoming changes to Medicaid and changes in costs could lead people to put off care until it becomes an emergency, leading to more crowded EDs. The data show that more than 20% of patients spend more time waiting in the ED than recommended for their triage level. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was looking into how to address the issue in 2024, but has since been gutted by the Trump administration.