Connecticut Local Politics

A Health Care Partnership Plan for Municipalities, Non Profit Organizations, and Small (Under 50 employees) Business was unveilled by Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and State House Majority Leader Chris Donovan at the Offices of the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut in Leyard this morning.   The meeting of Small Business Owners, Local Elected Officials and Non profit staff was hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of South Eastern Connecticut. 

Secretary of the State Bysiewicz set the stage by noting that Representative Donovan had originally introduced his Healthcare Partnership proposal for municipalities during the previous session.  Bysiewicz noted that 96 percent of new jobs in the past ten years were introduced by small business.  So she proposed to Representative Donovan to include non profit organizations and small businesses to his proposal.  Donovan agreed so the revised legislation will be proposed this session.  The other major difference from the previous proposal by Donovan is that opting for the Healthcare Partnership with the State Employees Plan will be voluntary for all – Municipalities (Including their Board of Education employees); non profit organizations; and small (under 50 employees) businesses.  All 169 cities and towns would be eligible to join the 250,000 State Employees in their plan but the non profit and small businesses would be a pilot program in South Eastern Connecticut.  If the program is successful, legislation would be introduced to make the program available state wide.  The details of the proposal are on Representative Donovan’s web site.

http://www.housedems.ct.gov/Donovan/CHP084.asp

Representative Donovan started his portion of the presentation by asking ‘who wants a lousy health care plan?’  He got no takers.  The base of his plan is the State Employees’ Health Care plan that currently services 250,000 state employees through different networks and administrators.  According to Representative Donovan, it is a “Good Plan that Costs Less.”  It would be entirely voluntary for a town, city, non profit organization, or small business to enter the plan.  This solution, using an existing health care plan, is better than “creating a new plan” .  It would be necessary to sign up for three years to provide some plan stability.

During the question and answer period, the plan was meant with some scepticism by some folks present.  When asked if this was an Idea or Reality, Representative Donovan admitted nothing was reality until signed by the Governor, until then, it is all just an idea.  According to Bysiewicz and Donovan most of the opposition to this plan comes from Business Groups that sell their own plans, such as CBIA, and Insurance Brokers that would lose business if municipalities, non profits, and small business opted for the State coverage.  A Medical Provider asked if any provider agents had been approached on this proposal.  Donovan could not say for certain that any providers had given input to the plan.  Donovan said that other reasons this bill has not been done before is that the “Land of Steady Habits” is sometimes the “Land of stubborn habits”.  This is not a new idea and it is being done in other states to some degree or another.  Under further questioning, Representative Donovan stated that he had not approached any hospitals or other medical providers regarding the plan since it already existed.  He had discussed with the State Union representatives and they were in favor of the plan.  The whole effort is to provide a “Good Health Plan at Less Cost” for all.  By using an existing plan, it makes for simple legislation that is more likely to pass.  Representative Donovan was hopeful that Municipalities and their unions would see the advantage to both sides and join the plan by mutual agreement.

One of the insurance brokers present stated that he felt the state would be more effective in bringing down health care costs by eliminating the medical mandates rather than putting insurance brokers out of business.

A representative of one of the Health Insurance Companies was concerned that the ‘education element’ of an insurance policy was being removed by just relying on the state government to provide the coverage.  Representative Donovan said that was not his intention.  Like self insured towns, insurance companies such as Anthem, HealthNet, or Connecares, would be administering the plan.  There would be a cost containment committee and, like all current plans, not everything would be covered.  Some plan choices would have more coverage than others.  This is still proposed legislation and there will be public hearings in the future to permit more citizen input.  According to Representative Donovan, “big ideas get smaller” as the pass through the legislative process.  He hoped everyone would get engaged and let their representative know how they felt about such a plan.

In her final remarks, SOTS Bysiewicz changed the subject to plug the proposed elimination of the $250.00 business filing fee.  She said the proposal had bipartisan support and should pass this session. 

The proposal is very interesting and, except for the insurance brokers and health insurance company representatives, seemed to have a positive reception among the business persons present.  The proof will be in what actually becomes legislation, if anything, during this short session.