{"id":540902,"date":"2026-03-23T18:47:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T18:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/540902\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T18:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T18:47:22","slug":"ct-lawmakers-push-for-affordable-health-care-by-variety-of-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/540902\/","title":{"rendered":"CT lawmakers push for affordable health care by variety of means"},"content":{"rendered":"

For decades, Connecticut<\/a> and federal lawmakers have tried in vain to rein in medical costs<\/a> as expenses have continued to soar for patients and employers.<\/p>\n

In response, a key legislative committee<\/a> voted on mostly party lines last week to spend $200 million in order to make costs more affordable<\/a> and also blunt the expiration of enhanced premium subsidies by the federal government.<\/p>\n

Democrats who control the state Senate<\/a> are pushing hard for Senate Bill 3,<\/a> which has been highlighted this year with a low number to show that it is among the highest priorities for the caucus.<\/p>\n

The 36-page bill<\/a> calls for the creation of a new \u201cConnecticut Option\u201d and the Connecticut Affordable Health Insurance Trust Fund<\/a> that would include $200 million from an emergency response fund of $500 million that the state legislature created last year to plug holes in budget cuts made by President Donald J. Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress. The $500 million fund has more than $300 million remaining as lawmakers scramble to obtain part of the remaining pool for a wide variety of priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, they passed cuts of $1 trillion to the Medicaid program nationally,\u201d said Sen. Matt Lesser, a Middletown Democrat who co-chairs the human services committee.<\/a> \u201cThey also cut hundreds of billions of dollars in tax credits that make health care affordable for the middle class. Senate Bill 3 is our response to that. \u2026 We are promoting hospital stability. We\u2019re tackling medical debt with the strongest consumer protections anywhere in the country to make sure that folks aren\u2019t straddled with crippling medical debt. \u2026 We are starting a planning process around Governor Lamont\u2019s Connecticut option because that work needs to start this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Connecticut is known nationally for quality health care with prominent hospitals like Yale New Haven, about 10% face high medical debt and 23% said in a survey last year that they have medical bills that remain unpaid, officials said. The highest percentage of those with financial burdens was families earning less than $50,000 per year.<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk agreed that Connecticut is making a direct response to the federal government actions including Trump\u2019s tax-and-spending bill that is known as HR 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to unfortunately clean up the mess that has been made in Washington, D.C.,\u201d Duff said. \u201cWe will do it because it\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a personal basis, Sen. Jorge Cabrera of Hamden said that his own experiences over the years have shaped his views on health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the son of a very sickly mother who was in and out of hospitals when I was a young boy,\u201d Cabrera said. \u201cIt was very difficult. As I got older, I tried to find work that provided good health care, and I was lucky enough to do that. When my twin boys were born prematurely at Yale New Haven Hospital, we spent 10 long weeks in the hospital, around the clock care for newborn babies. We didn\u2019t have time to really assess how much this would cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabrera continued, \u201cWeeks after we got home, I got two large paper packets, back when they used to send explanation of benefits in the mail, and saw the bill \u2014 and I was shocked how much it cost to take care of our boys. Lucky for me, I had really good health insurance. But I know, in speaking to people across the state, that that is not the case. \u2026 Health care in Connecticut is a right and not just a privilege for the few.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sen.Sen. Jorge Cabrera, a Hamden Democrat, is calling for reining in healthcare costs. Here, he speaks during a debate on the Senate floor that is based partially on his family’s personal experience with healthcare. (Shahrzad Rasekh \/ CT Mirror)
\nRepublican, CBIA opposition<\/p>\n

But Republicans and others are cool to Senate Bill 3, saying the state needs other solutions to solve the health care crisis that impacts hospitals, patients, doctors, and employers.<\/p>\n

Sen. Jason Perillo of Shelton, the ranking Senate Republican on the human services committee, opposes the bill and said lawmakers must attack the root cause of the medical funding crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s because one third of our residents are on Medicaid, and our Medicaid reimbursement rates are among the lowest in the country,\u201d Perillo told The Courant in an interview. \u201cThe only way that hospitals can stay in business is by shifting the costs over to commercial insurers. That\u2019s why premiums in Connecticut are high \u2014 because hospitals are reimbursed at a very low rate by Medicaid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Statewide, about 1.2 million residents are currently on Medicaid, ranging from young mothers with children to elderly patients in nursing homes.<\/p>\n

Removing certain sections of the 36-page Democratic bill, Perillo said, is not the answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no one thing you can pull out of this to make it a good bill,\u201d Perillo said. \u201cI don\u2019t see how this bill can be salvaged. We\u2019ve got to start from scratch. \u2026 We scrap it, and we start over, and the first thing we do is we increase Medicaid reimbursement rates to help our hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the committee debate, Perillo said the reimbursement rate is not only lower than what the hospitals charge but also lower than the amount it actually costs to treat the patient.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t do anything about it year after year after year,\u201d Perillo said of Medicaid rates, adding that the measure is a \u201cdangerous and risky\u201d proposal. \u201cSenate Bill 3 actually exacerbates the problem that we are trying to solve. \u2026 We are putting out a candle with a fire hose. \u2026 We\u2019re not looking at this in a very holistic way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The measure is also opposed by the Connecticut Hospital Association and the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, two of the most influential lobbying groups at the state Capitol.<\/p>\n

\u201cCBIA has significant concerns with this proposal, including potential violations of the state\u2019s fiscal guardrails, insufficient legislative oversight, and the creation of new subsidies that would ultimately shift costs to the commercial market,\u201d the business lobby said in written testimony. \u201cRather than bending the cost curve, SB 3 is likely to increase healthcare costs with minimal regulatory accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hospital association opposes the idea of a new Connecticut option.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe Connecticut should focus on strengthening what already works within the healthcare system rather than creating new government-run plans that may jeopardize access and affordability,\u201d the association said. \u201cHospitals across the state are already facing significant financial pressures driven by workforce shortages, rising costs, and persistent underpayment from existing government programs. Introducing a new public option built on top of the current Medicaid program without addressing these underlying challenges, risks destabilizing the healthcare delivery system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StateState Sen. Jason Perillo of Shelton says the Democratic-written Senate Bill 3 does not solve the state’s healthcare problems. Here, he speaks on the Senate floor as Sen. Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox of Bridgeport listens in June 2025. (Shahrzad Rasekh \/ CT Mirror)<\/p>\n

State Rep. Jay Case, the human services committee\u2019s ranking House Republican, said, \u201cI\u2019ve been on this committee 14 years. We\u2019ve talked about [Medicaid] rates since I\u2019ve been here. \u2026 We haven\u2019t done a darn thing in this building with reimbursement rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Rep. Stephen Meskers, a moderate Democrat from Old Greenwich who voted against the bill, said he would agree to increased Medicaid rates if the hospitals simultaneously agreed to lower the rates on private payers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome lobbyists tell me if you eliminate the mandates, you\u2019ll get a lower cost,\u201d Meskers said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t grow our small businesses, if we don\u2019t grow our economy, we\u2019re not going to be able to pay for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concerning the long-running problem of medical debt, Senate Bill 3 would block hospitals from billing certain low-income patients. Those include patients who currently receive food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or the Women, Infants and Children program. Known as WIC, the program helps 11,000 pregnant women, 11,000 newborns, and about 30,000 children in Connecticut. The program provides food aid that includes fresh vegetables and infant formula.<\/p>\n

Dr. Bill Begg, head of the emergency room at Danbury Hospital, said the bill will help to improve health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis legislation can truly save lives,\u201d Begg said. \u201cYou sit in our ERs for hours and days at a time, and it\u2019s all avoidable. \u2026 Insurance companies essentially have an unlimited amount of time to decide your care. \u2026 Infection rates can go up if you\u2019re in the hospital for an extended period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connecticut Option<\/p>\n

Gov. Ned Lamont and comptroller Sean Scanlon are working on a new idea known as the \u201cConnecticut Option,\u201d which is not the same as a government-operated \u201cpublic option\u201d that has been discussed on the national level. The idea is still being studied, but Lamont says he wants to set up a market-based system where state employees, retirees and others could band together and go to specific, designated hospitals and providers in a plan to save costs in the future. These would include John Dempsey Hospital on the University of Connecticut\u2019s health care campus in Farmington and UConn-owned Waterbury Hospital.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 3 calls for starting the planning process for the option proposal because it is not yet ready to be launched.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll are in agreement that we are not ready to set this up on Day One,\u201d Lesser said. \u201cThis bill starts that conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state legislature covers the gamut on health care, from those defending the current system to those who want to replace it.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Josh Elliott, a Hamden Democrat who is running for governor against Lamont from the left, recently posted a video saying that the best way forward is by creating a public option. In a plan that is different from Lamont\u2019s, Elliott says that all municipal and nonprofit workers could join into the state employees\u2019 system and then small businesses would join into an even larger system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is how you ensure that we destroy the health insurance industry,\u201d Elliott said on the video. \u201cYes, you heard me. I do not think it is an industry that should exist. \u2026 You do not need private health insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the solutions vary, all sides agree that health care is highly expensive and the system needs to be improved.<\/p>\n

Ayesha R. Clarke, executive director of Health Equity Solutions who was described by Lesser as \u201cone of the smartest\u201d policy wonks on health care, said the legislature cannot afford to wait and needs to pass Senate Bill 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time is now \u2014 not next session. Not after a study,\u201d Clarke said. \u201cNo one should be driven further into poverty simply by seeking necessary care. This is not radical. This is reasonable legislation. \u2026 Connecticut should not just be catching up. We should be leading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clarke added, \u201cNo one should walk out of the hospital with a prescription and a lifetime of debt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For decades, Connecticut and federal lawmakers have tried in vain to rein in medical costs as expenses have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[20242,242085,15861,242083,4515,2421,82123,15862,97,252,253,232982,242082,983,168221,66545,57523,21450,148127,242086,242087,242084,242088],"class_list":["post-540902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-connecticut-news","tag-connecticut-option","tag-ct-news","tag-ct-state-senate","tag-democrats","tag-federal-government","tag-gov-ned-lamont","tag-hartford-courant","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-josh-elliott","tag-legislative-committee","tag-local-news","tag-max-image-preview","tag-medical-costs","tag-medical-debt","tag-patients","tag-premium-subsidies","tag-sen-jason-perillo-of-shelton","tag-sen-jorge-cabrera","tag-senate-bill-3","tag-senate-majority-leader-bob-duff-of-norwalk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}