Capping months of lobbying by hundreds of activists, Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed two bills that would have radically changed the state”™s health care system.
Rell rejected the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut”™s SustiNet plan, aimed at cutting costs even while creating near-universal insurance coverage; and the Connecticut Healthcare Partnership allowing small businesses to be included in the massive insurance pool of state employees while converting that plan to a self-funded model, in an attempt to limit sharp premium fluctuations due to the impact a few employees might have on a small group”™s insurance ratings.
At the same time, Rell issued an executive order establishing a health care reform advisory board to develop state-level policies by January 2011 in response to reforms under consideration at the federal level ”“ less than a year after a Rell commission issued a range of recommendations for the state to pursue, some of which were mirrored in the SustiNet proposal.
“It”™s a slap in the face to thousands of small businesses and every person in this state who cannot wait for quality, affordable health care,” said Juan Figueroa, president of Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, which led the design of SustiNet. “With the stroke of a pen, today she turned her back on their plight. She also chose to ignore the broad coalition of residents who contributed to the development and passage of this legislation. Business, labor, health care providers, faith leaders, all were at the table.”
The Connecticut Business and Industry Association, the state”™s largest lobbying group on behalf of businesses, supported Rell”™s veto, but the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut had marshaled support from some small businesses in the state fed up with escalating premiums.
“Just this (month) Anthem announced plans to raise rates by as much as 32 percent on some Connecticut health insurance policies,” said Connecticut Speaker of the House Chris Donovan of Meriden. “Health care in this state is not going to fix itself.”
Democrats in the Connecticut General Assembly hold a veto-busting majority, and Donovan and other party leaders did not immediately indicate whether they have the votes to override Rell”™s move.
“These are well-intentioned bills that seek to address critically important issues, but they ultimately fail to resolve the central problems of access and affordability,” Rell said, in a written statement. “These bills also raise serious fiscal concerns that in a time of record budget deficits, record unemployment and record business closures simply cannot be ignored. These two bills would cost billions of dollars before any economic recovery is complete.”
The governor”™s Office of Policy and Management had estimated SustiNet would cost the state $1 billion a year, and the legislative Office of Fiscal Analysis previously stated the cost of insuring all low-income adults could top $500 million.
“As staggering as this figure is, it does not reflect the costs for those with insurance whose employers would be encouraged to drop their plans, which could easily double this cost,” Rell said.
Rell said the Connecticut Healthcare Partnership could result in an additional cost of at least $69 million for 2010 alone, and said the bill does not establish reserves, a common element of such plans that typically have spare funding to cover two months of anticipated claims.
Ellen Andrews, executive director of the Connecticut Health Policy Project, said Rell did not factor in the costs of doing nothing, and did not incorporate estimates of probable federal funding in implementing SustiNet.
Proponents argue the state spends inordinate amounts of money covering care for people who lack insurance, in the form of aid to hospitals that provide service regardless of ability to pay. In an effort to solve the problem of uninsured residents, Rell pushed through the Charter Oak Health Plan during the 2007-2008 legislative session, but doctors and clinics were slow to enroll due to caps on reimbursement for services under the plan.
