At halfway mark:

Health care

(April 4, 2008) How do most Connecticut residents view their health care coverage? More than 80% of respondents polled by Zogby are satisfied with their health insurance — and nearly three quarters say a taxpayer-funded, state government-run health care system would not make it better.

People also say the best way to reform health care is to control costs and make private insurance more affordable.

Rising health care costs are making it difficult for companies to remain competitive in Connecticut. Employers want lawmakers to reform health care by strengthening the current employer-based system.

Business leaders asked legislators to focus on reducing the system’s cost-drivers and improving quality in order to increase access to health care.

Efforts to reduce health care cost-drivers remain in play this session. Proposals are advancing that would:
• Allow cities and towns to collaborate to reduce health care costs and property taxes in a way that keeps them in control and doesn’t saddle them with the expensive state employee plan
• Allow the development of reduced-mandate plans to make health insurance more affordable
• Encourage employers to use wellness programs to improve their employees’ health and reduce their health care costs

 Also positive is that lawmakers have not moved on new employer health care-related taxes. Unfortunately, proposals to increase health care costs are advancing in the legislature, including those that:
• Increase health care costs for municipalities and small businesses if they choose to purchase the rich health benefits under the state employee plan, which would be offered without certain safeguards
• Add to the long lost of cost-driving health benefit mandates
It is also unfortunate that several positive initiatives were abandoned this year, including efforts to:
• Advance the development of electronic medical records to reduce medical duplication and errors and improve medical outcomes
• Increase state reimbursements for Medicaid to reduce the ongoing cost-shift from the public sector to the private sector

 For more information about all of these health care proposals, contact CBIA’s Eric George at 860-244-1921 or eric.george@cbia.com. n