Connecticut
Opinion: Connecticut must plan for Medicaid cuts
Three hours and nine minutes. That’s how long the average Connecticut resident spends in the emergency department at any one visit. With cuts in Medicaid, that time will only get longer.
On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump passed the Big Beautiful Bill, which includes major cuts to Medicaid funding. Out of nearly 926,700 CT residents who receive Medicaid, these cuts could remove coverage for up to 170,000 people, many of whom are children, seniors, people with disabilities, and working families already living paycheck-to-paycheck.
This is not a small policy change, but rather a shift with life-altering consequences.
When people lose their only form of health insurance, they don’t stop needing medical care. They simply delay it. They wait until the infection spreads, the chest pain worsens, or the depression deepens. This is not out of choice, but because their immediate needs come first. Preventable conditions worsen, and what could have been treated quickly and affordably in a primary care office becomes an emergency medical crisis.
That crisis typically lands in the emergency department: the single part of the healthcare system that is legally required to treat everyone, insured or not. However, ER care is the most expensive, least efficient form of healthcare. More ER use means longer wait times, more hospital crowding, and more delayed care for everyone. No one, not even those who can afford private insurance, is insulated from the consequence.
Not only are individual people impacted, but hospitals too. Medicaid provides significant reimbursements to hospitals and health systems like Yale New Haven and Hartford Healthcare, as well as smaller hospitals that serve rural and low-income regions. Connecticut’s hospitals are already strained and cuts will further threaten their operating budget, potentially leading to cuts in staffing, services, or both.
Vicky WangWhen there’s fewer staff in already short-staffed departments and fewer services, care becomes less available to those who need it the most.
This trend is not hypothetical. It is already happening. This past summer, when I had to schedule an appointment with my primary care practitioner, I was told that the earliest availability was in three months. When I called on September 5 for a specialty appointment at Yale New Haven, the first available date was September 9, 2026. If this is the system before thc cuts, what will it look like after?
The burden will fall heaviest on communities that already face obstacles to care: low-income residents, rural towns with limited providers, and Black and Latino families who are disproportionately insured through Medicaid. These cuts will deepen, not close, Connecticut’s health disparities.
This is not just a public health issue, but also an economic one. Preventative care is significantly cheaper than emergency care. When residents cannot access affordable healthcare, the long-term costs shift to hospitals, taxpayers, and private insurance premiums. The country and state may “save” money in the short term, but we will all pay more later.
It is imperative that Connecticut takes proactive steps to protect its residents. The clearest path forward is for the state to expand and strengthen community health centers (CHCs), which provide affordable primary care and prevent emergency room overcrowding.
Currently, the state supports 17 federally qualified CHCs, serving more than 440,000 Connecticut residents, which is about 1 in 8 people statewide. These centers operate hundreds of sites in urban, suburban, and rural areas, including school-based clinics, mobile units, and service-delivery points in medically underserved towns. About 60% of CHC patients in Connecticut are on Medicaid, while a significant portion are uninsured or underinsured, which are populations often shut out of private practices.
Strengthening CHCs would have far-reaching impacts on both access and system stability. These clinics provide consistent, high-quality outpatient and preventive care, including primary care, prenatal services, chronic disease management, mental health treatment, dental care, and substance-use services. This reduces the likelihood that patients delay treatment until their condition becomes an emergency. CHCs also serve large numbers of uninsured and underinsured residents through sliding-fee scales, ensuring that people can still receive care even if they lose Medicaid coverage.
By investing in community health centers, Connecticut can keep its citizens healthy, reduce long waits, and ensure timely care even as federal cuts take effect.
Access to healthcare should not depend on ZIP code, income level, or politics. It is the foundation of community well-being and a prerequisite for a functioning healthcare system.
The clock is ticking. The waiting room is filling. Connecticut must choose to care for its residents before the wait becomes even longer.
Vicky Wang is a junior at Sacred Heart University, majoring in Health Science with a Public Health Concentration. She is planning to pursue a master’s in physician assistant studies.
Connecticut
New businesses heading to West Haven’s shoreline
New businesses are soon set to replace old, rundown buildings in West Haven.
By the end of the summer, the former Savin Rock conference center is slated to become the Kelsey, a restaurant and banquet facility.
Crews are currently working on the inside, according to Mayor Dorinda Borer.
Next door, Jimmies of Savin Rock sits empty after it closed last month. It was open for a hundred years and is now for sale.
Borer said it’s another opportunity to draw people to the city.
“When there are new developers in town, and they’re making things all bright and shiny, that makes people attracted to our city,” Borer said. “It just seems like everything’s starting to bust loose at once. It’s a lot of work behind the scenes, and then it all starts to come to fruition.”
Thirty new luxury apartments are set to replace the Debonair Beach Motel that fell into disrepair after its last day open more than a decade ago. Demolition began last fall, and it’s expected to continue in March.
Down the street, new condos were built by the same owner of the restaurant and bar Riva. They opened their doors last summer, welcoming eager crowds.
“The turnout’s been unbelievable,” Riva’s owner, Michael Delvecchio, said. “People traveling from other states, New York, Rhode Island, all over Connecticut. It’s something that West Haven been dying for.”
Riva replaced Chick’s Drive-In, a West Haven hot-dog and seafood staple that closed in 2015 after its owner passed away.
Delvecchio doesn’t ignore that history. A sign that says “The Lodge at Riva” will be removed and replaced with “Chick’s” during the summer, with accompanying pictures of Savin Rock amusement park on the walls.
“Everybody in town has been, with all this shoreline and all this beach, waiting for something to happen,” he said. “Riva’s a little bit of everything.”
Connecticut
State opens investigation into former New Haven police chief amid stolen money allegations
Connecticut State Police and the Chief State’s Attorney have opened an investigation into former New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobsen and allegations that he misused public funds.
The City of New Haven reported the allegations to State’s Attorney John Doyle on Monday.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said Monday Jacobson admitted to stealing money from a fund used by the New Haven Police Department to pay for an support its confidential informant program.
Several officers flagged irregularities in the account and notified the three assistant chiefs in the department, according to Elicker. It was then that the assistant chiefs confronted Jacobson on Monday morning.
Elicker said after being confronted, Jacobson admitted to taking the funds. The assistant chiefs then notified Chief Administrative Officer Justin McCarthy, who then notified Elicker.
Jacobson was called in for a meeting with Elicker, where he was to be placed on administrative leave. Elicker said that before the meeting, Jacobson handed in his paperwork to retire, effective immediately.
The mayor was unable to share additional details on how much money was reportedly taken or for how long due to the ongoing investigation.
Assistant Chief David Zannelli has been appointed as the acting police chief.
State police will conduct the investigation and Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin has appointed New Britain Judicial District State’s Attorney Christian Watson to oversee the investigation to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.
Connecticut
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