A coalition that includes Connecticut’s largest business lobby and health insurers is rebooting its effort to block the establishment of a government-run health insurance option.
The revised public option bill, which will be discussed at a public hearing Thursday, would allow small businesses with 50 or fewer employees, not-for-profit organizations and labor unions to join a state-administered public health insurance plan that currently enrolls municipal workers, including members of a board of education, quasi- public agency or public library.
The proposal, billed as the “ConnectHealth Program,” would be established by State Comptroller Kevin Lembo to “offer high-quality, low-cost health insurance coverage to enrollees,” the proposed legislation says.
It also aims to provide the statewide Husky dental plan to individuals enrolled in the plan.
In 2019, a watered-down public option health care bill failed to win passage in the Senate amid fierce debate and pushback from the state’s insurance industry.
A vote on the measure came days after The Hartford Courant reported that Bloomfield health insurance giant Cigna, a member of the Insurance Matters to Connecticut coalition, had threatened to leave the state if the public option passed the General Assembly. But Cigna officials have denied the claim.
In addition to Cigna, the advocacy group also includes Aetna, Anthem, ConnectiCare, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, UnitedHealthcare, the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), several chambers of commerce and others. A full list of backers can be found here.
On Thursday, the coalition expressed their concerns of a state-run health care model that would put 25,000 “good-paying” health plan jobs at risk. The group also questioned whether the state would be able to run an “efficient” healthcare system.
“As a state, we need to stay competitive and support the growth of the health industry here, which includes pushing back against legislation that says government run health care is a better model,” said Steve Jewett, a spokesperson for the coalition, who is also a former health executive and recently stepped down as managing partner of Hartford’s McDowell Jewett Communications.
Jewett continued: “We can’t take for granted that our home state health plans keep their operations here. Insurers are being courted by other states.”
