Saturday in Bushnell Park
Comments (0) Between the Komen Connecticut Race for the Cure, PRIDE, and who knows what else going on, Bushnell Park was buzzing this morning and afternoon.
Category: health care
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City to Denounce Arizona?
By Kerri Provost, May 7, 2010 2:44 pm
Luis Cotto, the Minority Leader of Hartford’s City Council (Court of the Common Council) is introducing a resolution that calls for “denouncing SB 1070 and [...] a boycott of discretionary City travel to Arizona and business with Arizona-based companies.” Arizona State Senate Bill 1070 enables racial profiling and restricts the freedom of Americans to travel within the nation’s borders without being treated as guilty until proven innocent via the procurement of documents that normal Americans keep in safe deposit boxes, rather than in their wallets. This resolution, which Cotto says would ” exert pressure [on the Arizona government] by taking our business elsewhere,” is to come before the City Council on Monday, May 10th.
Free H1N1 Vaccine
By Kerri Provost, January 6, 2010 10:59 am
The City of Hartford Department of Health and Human Services will be offering additional H1N1 flu clinics for Hartford residents and/or anyone who wishes to receive the H1N1 vaccine. The schedule is as follows:
Tuesday 01/12/10 3 PM- 6 PM at Parker Memorial Community Center 2621 Main
Wednesday 01/13/10 3 PM–6 PM at Pope Park Community Center @ 30 Pope Park
Tuesday 01/19/10 3 PM–6 PM at Metzner Center @ 680 Franklin Ave.No appointment is necessary for these clinics and there is no cost for this service or need to present insurance information. Each person who wants to receive the H1N1 vaccine will have to fill out a form providing the needed information for the nurses who will be administering the vaccine.
For further information or questions please contact Jeffrey Lim at (860) 543-8828 or Limje001@hartford.gov
Before getting any vaccine, do some independent research to determine if it has been proven effective and/or if the benefits outweigh the risks.
Hartford 2010: Resolutions for the New Year
By Kerri Provost, December 30, 2009 8:43 pm
It’s way easier to delegate than to take on every last responsibility, so rather than work on gaining muscle mass or weaning myself off chocolate, I’m creating a list of things I would like to see Hartford work on in the upcoming year. Here they are, in no particular order:
- Make the Riverfront Accessible
After having my heart set on a lovely afternoon bicycle ride along the Connecticut River, my plans were thwarted. Continue reading 'Hartford 2010: Resolutions for the New Year'»
What It Means to Boycott Connecticut
By Kerri Provost, December 17, 2009 5:25 pm
Yo Michael Moore,
Ima let you finish, but boycotting Connecticut is cold. It’s also about as counterproductive and impossible as the ill-conceived boycotts of Israel. Maybe you mean that you’re just going to not visit Connecticut, but if you are going to really boycott, then you’d better be prepared for all that this entails. Here’s a preview:
This means you can not purchase anything from Aetna, Anthem, CIGNA, UnitedHealth, Phoenix, The Hartford, or St. Paul Travelers. No ING either.
Do not visit or give any money to the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center – ill children in Connecticut would benefit, and we know that they had a lot to do with Lieberman getting elected and reelected. They should suffer so that you can make your point.
ESPN is a major employer in Connecticut, so make sure you do not watch that station. If you were planning to drop by Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods, drop them from your itinerary. You can also remove Mystic Seaport, Mystic Aquarium, and Mystic Pizza from your list of places to go. The Nathan Hale Homestead? Forget it. Want to see where Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Noah Webster lived? Nevermind. No Essex Steam Train, Goodspeed Opera House, Bushnell, Gillette Castle, Real Art Ways, Wolfpack games, TheaterWorks, Wadsworth Atheneum, Yale Center for British Art, IKEA (they employ residents), Beardsley Zoo, or Hill-Stead Museum. No CT Science Center. No Dinosaur State Park or Yale Peabody Museum.
Forget about stopping off at Lyman Orchards, or any of the other orchards in Connecticut. No lunch at Shady Glen or Louis’ Lunch. No Newman’s Own products.
You may not go watch a movie at the Mansfield Drive-in. While you’re being hardcore about this, refrain from purchasing movie tickets or dvds of films with Connecticut residents — past or present — starring, producing, or involved in any way. No more Katharine Hepburn and Paul Newman films. Prisoners and The Witches of Oz are currently being filmed in CT. You will not get to see those. Since this is retroactive, if any of these films are on your to-see list, just forget they were made.
Skip the Barnum Museum, XL Center, Lake Compounce, and Quassy Amusement Park. I hope you didn’t want to see the two-headed cow on display at the Old State House. That’s off limits too!
Don’t donate any money to the CT Humane Society. Sweet puppies and kitties should definitely suffer because of Lieberman.
No Book Barn or Atticus.
I hope you are not a fan of Wiffle Ball or Frisbee, because those are on the “no” list. Anesthesia was first used in my state, so if you have to undergo a serious medical procedure, you’ll have to be brave and wide awake for it. Also invented in Connecticut? Sewing machine, can opener, and hamburger. I sense you’ll have difficulty boycotting all three of those items. Do you like to vacuum your house? Sorry. Broom and dustpan from now on. Like color television? That’s also a Connecticut first.
Do not speak at or give any money to a single college or university in the state, no matter how much the students might benefit from your sage advice. Do not go to any UConn games either.
I’m sorry. Am I giving you a headache? Depressing you? Don’t try to treat your aches with anything from Pfizer.
You will have to bypass Bradley International Airport, even if you’re heading to Massachusetts. If choosing air travel, ensure you are not going to fly in a jet that uses parts made at Pratt & Whitney. Also, no rides in helicopters, as the first one was invented in Connecticut.
I’m happy for you, Mr. Moore, because you’ve made a successful career out of activism and entertainment; but to hold an entire state’s population responsible for one man is bogus. Lieberman lost in the last primary and has fallen out of favor with many who originally voted for him. Local religious figures have spoken against his stance on health care. Maybe you did not know this, but Connecticut does not have the ability to recall politicians. Of course, since government is a human construction, humans can change it, but to suggest that Connecticut residents are responsible for removing a man when we have no current power to do so, well, I think that assumes we all have as much time on our hands as you do. Many of us, like myself, work more than one job and still do not have health care. I have never voted for Lieberman. Your tactic to push for health care has the potential to harm exactly those who need it. We need health care, but we also need our jobs! We have mortgages and rent to pay. We have groceries to buy. Lieberman is a problem, yes, but solving that problem should not involve harming thousands of Connecticut residents.
Health Care Reform Rally Canceled
By Kerri Provost, September 1, 2009 8:46 am
Tomorrow’s rally in Hartford has been canceled.
Instead, there will be a rally at the West Hartford Town Hall.
Sidewalk Scenes: Installment Six
By Kerri Provost, August 28, 2009 9:44 am
This sign was found on a few sidewalks near the CCAG office. On September 2nd there will be a health care reform rally at John Larson’s office (221 Main Street), followed by a march to Senator Dodd’s office. outside the West Hartford Town Hall. This begins at 4:30pm and should last roughly two hours.
Random Spring Photo Post
By Kerri Provost, April 22, 2009 9:57 pm
This is just a gratuitous photo blog post.
Pictured here are the gardens of two Hartford bloggers. One knows what she is doing. The other grows dirt, apparently.
This sign could use some freshening up.
This is not my beautiful tree.
And this is not my beautiful house.
Rally for New Health Care Plan
By Kerri Provost, January 13, 2009 8:36 pm
This evening hundreds of universal health care supporters turned out at Union Station to listen to details regarding the release of SustiNet. They were expecting around 500. I would guess far more than that showed up.
All seats were taken, people were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, and people even climbed up the staircases to find a place to see the speakers. There was even a video screen set up for those unlucky enough to be in the back of the diverse crowd.
SustiNet: Health Care for Everyone
The Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut released their public policy proposal, called SustiNet, today.
The goals of the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut are:
• Guarantee all Connecticut residents access to their choice of high quality health coverage and health care.
• Control costs so that health care is affordable and sustainable for individuals, families, businesses, and taxpayers.
• End residents’ worries about losing access to care when they change jobs, finish school, start a business, experience other life-changing events or have pre-existing conditions.
• Prevent illness and disease where possible and improve health.
• Eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care and health outcomes
The city of Hartford has 34,000 uninsured residents. With a population of about 125,000, this means that around 27-28% of Hartford residents are uninsured. In July of 2008, Where We Live spoke with Mayor Perez about the city task force created to help provide health insurance for those who are uninsured, but who make too much money to qualify for assistance (welfare). This task force has been, among other things, looking at partnering with corporations/private sector. As said in the discussion, someone with an income of $30,000/year can not afford existing options like the Charter Oak Health Plan. Part of the task force’s purpose is to promote healthy lifestyles/prevention.
The SustiNet policy, however, would merge:
state employees and retirees with HUSKY and SAGA participants into a self-insured pool. Three other groups can enter the pool:
• people without access to employer sponsored insurance, including sole proprietors and other self employed individuals;
• people offered employer sponsored insurance that does not provide affordable access to essential care; and
• and employers, starting with small businesses, nonprofits and municipalities, but ultimately including any employer in the state.
HUSKY and SAGA are health care-related forms of welfare.
SustiNet would include home medical services, mental health care, and dental care. Medical home services are broken into three categories: care coordination (non-medical referrals and reminders about immunizations etc.), patient empowerment (encouraging people to quit smoking, improve diets, etc.), and timely access to care (goal is to reduce unnecessary emergency room visits). People with pre-existing conditions would not be turned away, which makes sense since they are among the most vulnerable and in the most need of medical treatment. They are proposing that co-pays and premiums be based on income. For those whose employers do not offer any insurance, they could be self-insured regardless of pre-existing conditions. Those who have inadequate coverage could also switch to a self-insurance plan. What makes something inadequate? “Coverage is also deemed inadequate, regardless of income, if out-of-pocket health care costs are at least 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.” Continue reading 'SustiNet: Health Care for Everyone'»
