Media Center

Connecticut was among 16 states that saw record levels of exports last year, with the sale of aerospace and related equipment accounting for nearly half of the $16.5 billion in exports, a report released Tuesday shows. Exporting for the nation as a whole in 2013 also rose to a record, $2.3 trillion. In Connecticut, the level of exports rose by 3 percent, from $16 billion in 2012, and was 7 percent higher than $15.4 billion in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. "I'm not surprised," said Peter Gioia, vice president and economist at the Connecticut Business & Industry Association. "Companies involved in exporting are getting more and more aggressive."

Problems caused by a Medicare rule that forces hospitals to label certain patients under "observation" status rather than as inpatients have only worsened in the four years since U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney first introduced legislation to fix it. That's the assessment of case managers at the region's two hospitals, who both applaud the third bill Courtney and other lawmakers have introduced since 2010 to change Medicare rules so that patients could be covered for skilled nursing care after a hospitalization, regardless of whether they were "observation" patients or inpatients. Under the current rules, Medicare patients discharged to skilled nursing care facilities must pay out of pocket for those services, unless they were labeled as hospital "inpatients" for three consecutive days. Increasingly strict limits on who can be classified as an inpatient - with penalties for hospitals that mislabel patients - have meant hospitals are categorizing more patients as "observation."

As Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., sees it, more of his colleagues are becoming aware of the ill effects that can occur when hospitals tell Medicare that a person who spent days being treated within their walls was not an “inpatient.” Courtney and many advocacy groups say that when hospitals instead slot patients as receiving “observation” services, that can deprive them of needed follow-up skilled nursing care. Or, it can cost them dearly if they use these services as after a hospital stay.

In the project science laboratory at the Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy Thursday, a group of goggles-clad second-grade students were about to begin an experiment. By combining two states of matter — vinegar, a liquid, and baking soda, a solid — could they create a third state of matter? Second-grade teacher Kim Lewis, having passed out written instructions and given the students a couple of minutes, asked if there were any questions. Juliana Vik, a particularly enthusiastic student, shook her head.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, was in Windham Center Tuesday to quell concerns the Affordable Care Act would apply to volunteer fire departments. “The cost of providing health care would be catastrophic (for volunteer fire departments),” Courtney said. The Affordable Care Act mandates employers with more than 50 employees offer health care or pay a penalty.