Hartford Hospital has been negotiating with Anthem since February, said James Blazar, the hospital's senior vice president and chief strategy officer.

"I was optimistic going into Friday," Blazar said. But the two sides do not agree on the hospital's suggested increase in reimbursement rates for medical services. The proposed increase not disclosed. A current three-year contract expires Oct. 31.

Hartford Healthcare notified Anthem of its intent to terminate its participating hospital contracts for Hartford Hospital and Windham Community Memorial Hospital with Anthem effective Oct. 31.

"Anthem has proposed increases to both hospitals that would continue to provide them with reimbursement at a margin over their costs," said Anthem spokeswoman Sarah Yeager. "Anthem is seeking an agreement with the hospitals that will allow our members access to quality health care, while trying to manage the cost of health care and rising premiums."

Certain gene mutations can indicate a greater likelihood of getting some cancers. Realizing the greater risk means women can check more regularly to see if they are developing early signs of cancer. But are women seeking out genetic testing, and if not, why not? 

The two-year study will address whether tests are offered to women, and if there are disparities between women of various socioeconomic, racial and ethnic groups. Researchers will also determine the use of risk-reduction and screening services by patients after they are tested.

Funding will be provided by Aetna and conducted by researchers at the University of South Florida and Georgetown University, in collaboration with the American Cancer Society.

The latest effort: an online contest to determine where Aetna Foundation grant money should go to help mitigate childhood obesity.

The competition started today and ends at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5. The idea is to have the public vote and decide three charitable organizations from a pre-determined list of 10 to share $100,000 in grant funding. 

For details, visit www.AetnaFoundationVote.org

"Connecticut families have suffered from skyrocketing health insurance prices and the industry's abusive practices for far too long," said Dodd, a Democrat. "To now try to attribute a more than 20 percent proposed rate hike to the new health care reform law after years of continually proposing comparable double-digit rate hikes in Connecticut is both reprehensible and dishonest. Should these new rates take effect, there is no doubt that many Connecticut families will be severely impacted and could join the ranks of the uninsured across the country. I urge the state to thoroughly review this request and use the $1 million in federal funding it was recently awarded under the new health care reform law to protect Connecticut consumers and families and prevent these unreasonable rate hikes."

Dodd was among U.S. Senators who worked to pass federal health reform laws which were passed and signed into law by President Obama in March.

Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas Sullivan has said the state Insurance Department will review rate requests "with the same level of vigor and scrutiny that we have employed in the past."

In a Sept. 14 letter to Insurance Commissioner Thomas Sullivan, the five U.S. House representatives said, "While we understand that requiring additional benefits may come with some extra costs, empirical evidence suggests that the costs for these specific changes are relatively low, and in some cases negligible."

"In light of the pending deadline for these insurance reforms, we would encourage you to remain vigilant of excessive rate increase requests by insurance providers that surpass expected costs of these changes," the letter said, signed by Democrats Joe Courtney, Rosa L. DeLauro, Jim Himes, John B. Larson and Christopher S. Murphy.

What's changing is federal health reform will require insurers to provide certain benefits starting Sept. 23, or to comply with federal guidelines for grandfathering existing plans. Insurers must eliminate annual and lifetime limits to spending for members; children will not be denied coverage regardless of a pre-existing condition; young adults may choose to stay on their parents' plan until they reach age 26.

Sullivan replied, "The Connecticut Insurance Department will continue to review premium rate requests with the same level of vigor and scrutiny that we have employed in the past.  While some of the new requirements under health care reform have already been adopted into Connecticut law, such as dependent coverage, several have not. As a result, when benefit levels are increased it is not unexpected to see commensurate increases in premium levels.  The Department will utilize all the tools made available through health care reform and the recently awarded premium rate review grant to ensure that consumers are protected and that Connecticut continues to enjoy a competitive marketplace. 

Health insurers are asking for immediate rate hikes of more than 20 percent in Connecticut for some plans, citing rising medical costs and federal health reform laws as reasons.

Both issues -- the new federal health care reform and rising medical costs -- are significant drivers of the increases, according to filings by insurers with state regulators that were reviewed by The Courant.

It remains to be seen how much of the requests will be approved. Many people might not see an increase before Jan. 1, and these proposed changes would largely affect new business, mostly in the individual market.

But the overall price shift is the clearest indicator yet of what customers and employers can expect when health insurers submit proposed 2011 rates in late October and November. The current round of price requests launches a clash between insurers who say the increases are justified and consumer advocates and government officials who say the numbers are wildly inflated.