When two key Democrats first released the 615-page US Senate bill to reform health care in this country they failed to describe what they meant by a 'public option.' The incomplete proposal carried a roughly $1 trillion price tag.

But U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd said Thursday in a conference call with reporters that the new language creates a "strong" public option that will cost about $611.4 billion over 10 years--not the roughly $1 trillion originally estimated.

In this letter to members of the Congressional Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Dodd and US Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts detail the government-run public option and the fees it would charge employers who do not provide coverage for their employees.

When Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a $1.3 billion executive order Tuesday to keep government running while a budget deal is negotiated she failed to fund at least four programs which help individuals living with HIV and AIDS.

Shawn M. Lang, director of public policy with the CT AIDS Resource Coalition, said the news came as a surprise to advocates who rely on the state funding to operate programs, such as the needle-exchange program that helps prevent the spread of HIV among drug users.

"It was a very, very poor decision," Lang said Wednesday afternoon in a phone interview.

U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman has a bipartisan group of senators ready to help pass health care reform -- minus a government-run insurance plan.

During a New Haven stop to support overall reform, Connecticut's independent fourth-term senator gave his strongest statement to date opposing Democrats' and President Obama's call for a "public option" health care plan.

Click here to continue reading Paul's report.

Keepsake ultrasounds, a recent trend popularized by expecting mothers, may soon become passé when the state enforces its limitations on the practice Wednesday. Effective July 1, ultrasounds that serve no diagnostic or medical purpose and are not ordered by a health professional will be banned in Connecticut.

However, Gina Beaudoin, the owner of A Tiny Perspective in Glastonbury, a company that provides families with keepsake ultrasound photos and DVD recordings, was quick to point out that her practice does in fact serve both a diagnostic and a medical purpose.

Health Care for America Now, a national grassroots organization for health care reform, released a report Thursday that shows the cost of health care is rising across the nation and right here in Connecticut.

The report found that health insurance premiums for Connecticut working families have gone up 81 percent between 2000 and 2007. In dollars, that means the cost of family health coverage in Connecticut has increased from $7,292 to $13,173, and workers in Connecticut are not making enough money to keep up. From 2000 to 2007, health insurance premiums rose 8.2 times faster than wages.

Click here to read more about the national report and herefor details on Connecticut.

This time, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro said, the country's ready to let government fix health care.

DeLauro, a New Haven Democrat, is in the thick of her second battle in Washington to overhaul the country's health care system by lowering costs and covering the uninsured.

Click here to continue reading Paul's report.

More than 200 people rallied at the state Capitol Tuesday morning to urge lawmakers and the governor not to cut one of the biggest line items in the state budget--Medicaid.

Medicaid helps deliver services to low-income elderly, disabled, and children and both Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the legislature's Democratic majority have proposed a variety of cuts.

"We're here to ask our leaders to remember the people behind the budget cuts," Brenda Kelley, AARP state director, said Tuesday. "One in eight people in the state of Connecticut depend on Medicaid."

(Updated 7:35 p.m.)Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, legislative leaders, and advocates hand-delivered two health care reform bills passed by the General Assembly earlier this year to Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell's office Tuesday.

"We think these two bills are the most important bills of the legislative session," Bysiewicz said at a small gathering of advocates who worked for the past two years to get the legislation passed.

About 300 members of the state's largest healthcare workers union converged on the state Capitol Wednesday to protest Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell's proposed budget cuts to health care services for children, the elderly, and the disabled.

Samantha Hand and Christina Roy of Network Inc. in Andover, a nonprofit which runs group homes and day programs for clients with developmental disabilities, said by proposing numerous cuts to programs and services,"Rell is making a promise that the quality of care in Connecticut will decrease."

"It will boil down to unlawful neglect," Roy said.

Lisa Fabianski's brother has diabetes and high blood pressure. He lost his job and his health insurance. He ended up in the hospital, and he lost his house. She told her story to urge Gov M. Jodi Rell to seize a chance next week to enable other people in Connecticut to avoid ending up telling stories like hers.

Click here to continue reading Melinda's report.