New Partnership Erases Medical Debt for Thousands of Connecticut Residents

By Hugh McQuaid

December 17 @ 5:00 am

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A new partnership between a national nonprofit organization and the state of Connecticut will reduce or eliminate medical debts owed by roughly 23,000 residents in the coming days, state officials announced Monday.

The group, Undue Medical Debt, has used public investments to negotiate with health care providers to eliminate bundles of medical debt owed by residents who fall under the income threshold of less than four times the federal poverty level or residents whose medical debt meets or exceeds 5% of their overall income, according to Gov. Ned Lamont’s office.

Allison Sesso, president and CEO of Undue Medical Debt, explained the process during a late morning press conference in the state Capitol’s Old Appropriations Room.

“It is not magic, it is the market,” Sesso said. “Basically there is a for-profit debt market in which you can buy medical debt for pennies on the dollar and the reason why you can buy it for pennies on the dollar is, unfortunately, the people who owe it really don’t have the money to pay it. Our health care system has unreasonable expectations about what people pay out of pocket based on their income ”

The first round of the initiative involved a state investment of around $100,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, which Undue Medical Debt has been able to use to negotiate and acquire roughly $30 million in medical debt owed by Connecticut residents.

“This is all about making sure that health care is more broadly available, accessible and affordable,” Lamont said. “We want to make sure that nobody — nobody is discouraged from getting the check up they need, the preventative care they need, and making sure that our amazing hospitals here in our state can take care of you.”

Sen. Saud Anwar, a South Windsor Democrat who serves as Senate chair of the legislature’s Public Health Committee, said his panel would seek to address the affordability of health care more broadly during the legislative session that begins next month.

“This is probably a trillion dollar question at the national level, if not more. The reality is in our legislative session this year, we started to look at what are the various things we can do. In this upcoming session we will be discussing some of these aspects,” Anwar said, including looking at insurance companies. “What are they doing that is increasing costs to consumers? Another component is ‘how can we prevent this?’”

Residents who will be benefiting from relief under the first round of the program will receive a letter from Undue Medical Debt, which will outline the debts that have been eliminated. These letters will be delivered through the U.S. mail beginning on Dec. 23, the governor’s office said.

As Vaccine Rates Drop Nationally, They’re Rising In Connecticut

By Joe O’Leary

December 16 @ 10:15 am

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Connecticut has seen vaccination rates climb even amid national turbulence related to vaccines and declining childhood immunization rates around the country, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In November, the Kaiser Family foundation found that vaccination rates were falling across the United States. The MMR vaccine, which provides protection against measles, mumps and rubella, has continued to see uptake decline. From 2019-2020 to 2023-2024, the number of states with more than 95% of students vaccinated fell from 20 to 11, while states with school vaccination rates under 90% rose from just three to 14.

On a state-by-state basis, data continued to show declines in childhood vaccinations with the DTaP, polio and varicella vaccines all falling from 95% to 93%. That’s below the commonly accepted threshold for those vaccines, where coverage of 95% helps prevent community transmission of diseases like measles, and represents more than 280,000 children nationwide who remain unprotected.

There’s a likely correlation between that decline in vaccination coverage and the CDC reporting that there had been 16 measles outbreaks, defined as three or more related cases, in the United States in 2024. Comparably, in 2023, there were just four outbreaks.

Complicating matters to improve vaccination rates is growing mistrust of the scientific breakthrough. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Trump administration’s current nominee to lead the federal Department of Health and Human Services, has publicly expressed hesitation about vaccines including the MMR vaccine.

Kennedy has been tied to a measles epidemic in American Samoa in 2019 where more than 80 children died from the disease; Kennedy visited American Samoa and discouraged childhood vaccination.

While vaccination rates are falling elsewhere, in Connecticut, they have risen. The Connecticut Department of Public Health recently published an update that found state kindergarteners’ uptake of the MMR vaccine was at 97.7%, a full four points ahead of the national average. It rose by 0.4% in the last year, and in the process, there was a 3% increase in individual schools with MMR vaccination rates at or above 95%.

This aligns with CDC data, which found Connecticut medical exemptions rose by 0.1% in 2024, while non-medical exemptions fell by 0.4%.

Why is Connecticut in such good standing compared to the rest of the country? It likely involves legislation put in place in 2021, spearheaded by Senate Democrats, to eliminate the nonmedical exemption to vaccinations, where the state was the sixth nationally to end such a policy, according to the Associated Press.

Children with existing nonmedical exemptions were allowed to preserve them, and medical exemptions to vaccinations are still allowed, but removing the exemption came after several years of declining vaccination rates combined with an increase in use of the nonmedical exemption.

A key aspect of the legislation came from the belief that parents opposed to vaccination would claim a nonmedical exemption on religious grounds, even if their religion did not oppose vaccination itself.

Before the ban, the nonmedical exemption’s use rose 25% in one year as overall coverage rates dropped, according to a Hartford Courant editorial published in 2019. Meanwhile, the American Bar Association said in 2022 that research found just the Dutch Reformed Church, Christian Scientists and four faith-healing organizations opposed vaccines theologically, and several of those religions allowed for vaccination on a case-by-case basis.

In 2021, State Sen. Saud Anwar, a South Windsor Democrat who now serves as Senate chair of the Public Health Committee, said that vaccines serve as an important safety net — both for the people who take them and for those who cannot receive them due to medical complications.

“We have seen in recent years, both statewide and nationally, the consequences of reduced vaccination rates; they lead to outbreaks of diseases we have previously controlled,” Anwar said.

The Connecticut Department of Health recommends families ensure their children receive protection against illnesses that can be prevented or protected against by vaccination. Vaccines are available at pharmacies and doctor’s offices statewide.

 

Biden Pardons Norwalk Resident Convicted of Nonviolent Drug Offense

By Hugh McQuaid

December 14 @ 5:00 am

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A Norwalk resident was among 39 Americans to earn a pardon Thursday from President Joe Biden, who sought to provide clemency to people who had rehabilitated their lives following convictions for non-violent crimes including drug offenses.

Biden pardoned Sherranda Janell Harris, 43, of Norwalk as part of what the Associated Press described as the “largest single day-act of clemency in modern history.”

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said in a press release. “As President, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses.”

Harris was convicted of a non-violent drug offence when she was 24 years old, according to a statement from the White House. Since that conviction, she has maintained employment, has been an engaged parent, and has taken care of fellow church parishioners. The White House described Harris as “a role model for young women in her community.”

The president’s pardon of a Norwalk resident prompted a statement from Connecticut Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. Duff said Biden’s actions reflected compassion and a commitment to justice.

“Too many Americans had their lives permanently disrupted by draconian drug policies in the 1990s and early 2000s,” Duff said. “These policies disproportionately affected communities of color, creating barriers to education, housing, and employment for generations. Although I do not personally know Ms. Harris, it’s heartening to see a fellow Norwalk resident receive an opportunity for a fresh start.”

In his statement, the president said that the 39 people he pardoned had shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer. Meanwhile, Biden said he issued the 1,499 commutations to individuals who were serving long prison sentences, often for crimes that would receive more lenient punishments by today’s standards.

Biden said Americans could expect additional announcements before he left office early next month.

“I will take more steps in the weeks ahead,” the president said. “My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances.”