Health Care Reform forces Aetna to lower rates

More than 15,000 Aetna customers could see their health insurance premiums drop by between 5 and 19.5 percent later this year, reflecting, at least in part, a new federal requirement that limits how much insurance companies can spend on nonmedical costs.

The proposed rate cuts would affect Connecticut residents covered by Aetna individual health plans and, if approved by the Connecticut Insurance Department, would take effect Sept. 1. The average rate cut would be 10 percent, according to documents filed by the company.

Continue »

Chrysler repays $7.6 billion U.S., Canada loans

(Reuters) - Chrysler Group LLC on Tuesday paid back $7.6 billion in U.S. and Canadian government loans from its 2009 bailout, a move that allows the U.S. automaker to distance itself from an unpopular bailout and deepen its ties with Italian automaker Fiat SpA.

Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of both Chrysler and Fiat, told the crowd: "We received confirmation this morning at 10:13 a.m. from Citigroup that Chrysler Group repaid, with interest ... every penny that had been loaned less than two years ago.

Continue »

Charles Dey: high school youth with disabilities enter world of work

Charles Dey had a career that took him from teaching history and college administration to a Peace Corps post in the Philippines and then to the top job at Choate, a prestigious boarding school in Connecticut. At age 60, he wasn't ready to retire, but he was ready for a change.

It was the summer of 1992, and Dey was at the shore with his long-time friend Alan Reich. "You were the happiest you've ever been 30 years ago," Reich told him, referring to the time when Dey ran A Better Chance, a program to help provide educational opportunities for African American students. "Now it's time to do for young people with disabilities in the 90s what you were doing for minorities in the 60s."

Continue »