FCBJ

Page 1

FAIRFIELD COUNTY

BUSINESS JOURNAL

YOUR only SOURCE FOR regional BUSINESS NEWS | westfaironline.com

November 26, 2012 | VOL. 48, No. 48

Anxiety builds over costs as health reforms progress

State projects $365 million shortfall

BY PATRICK GALLAGHER

Official says budget cuts are likely, pledging no new taxes

pgallagher@westfairinc.com

The Obama administration took a major step toward the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with the release of a series of proposed rules outlining essential health benefits, market reforms and wellness programs Nov. 20. Even prior to the release, health care industry representatives from across the state indicated in conversations with the Business Journal that President Obama’s crowning achievement does not nearly Anxiety, page 2

FCBJ TODAY

BY JENNIFER BISSELL

jbissell@westfairinc.com

P Growth platform

Unemployment in Connecticut rose back to 9 percent in October … 3 Layoffs are on tap at Xerox as the company restructures its services unit … 8 Family-owned businesses are more optimistic, CBIA survey shows … 9 Financial industry stalwarts open advisory firm in Stamford ... 11 Also … Going for broke? State economic development policy under the magnifying glass ... 4

MEDIA PARTNER

The WorkPlace Inc. CEO Joseph Carbone

The WorkPlace program to ease long-term unemployment goes national BY PATRICK GALLAGHER

pgallagher@westfairinc.com

At its roots, the Platform to Employment program was meant to be a research endeavor — a social enterprise, as The WorkPlace Inc. CEO Joseph Carbone calls it. The goal, Carbone said, has been to prove to private corporations that the

long-term unemployed — including tens of thousands of Connecticut residents who have been out of work for more than two years ­— are still employable. With nearly two-thirds of the 100 initial participants in the Platform to Employment (P2E) program now in full-time positions, The WorkPlace has secured $1.85 million in funding and Growth, page 6

7

First annual CFO awards

lagued by higher-than-projected Medicaid costs, Connecticut officials now say the state is on pace to end its 2013 fiscal year with a $365 million budget deficit, according to a Nov. 15 report. The new report comes in stark contrast to a Nov. 1 estimate by state Comptroller Kevin Lembo that Connecticut’s government was facing a $60 million deficit for its current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2013. With additional data now available relating to the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program, the Office of Policy Management (OPM) and the legislature’s Office of Fiscal Analysis are predicting a $260 million shortfall for the Medicaid portion of the budget. The projected deficit has been attributed in part to a sharp increase in enrollment in the state’s Medicaid for LowIncome Adults – or Husky D – program. In 2010, Connecticut became the first state in the country to receive federal approval to expand its Medicaid program to low-income adults under a proviState, page 6

15 Fiscal cliff

draws nearer


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
FCBJ by Westfair Business Journal - Issuu