| Healthcare
Coverage and Access
Here in Connecticut, more than 10% - or a total of nearly
400,000 of the state’s non-elderly population - were
uninsured at some point during the year. CHA and its
member hospitals have been working to elevate the issues of
coverage and access on the state and national legislative
agendas and to educate Americans about the problem.
As
part of its 2008
Legislative Agenda,
CHA will support initiatives that improve access to health
insurance coverage for Connecticut residents and reduce the
number of uninsured, including:
•
Restoring continuous eligibility
for children in HUSKY for one year.
•
Expanding access to primary care.
(See also CHA advocacy efforts regarding
emergency department overcrowding.)
Related
Resources
Faces
of Medicaid in Connecticut —
A new CHA report conveys the implications of Medicaid underfunding
to hospitals and the patients and communities they serve.
Click
here for consensus principles for effective healthcare
reform, published by a coalition comprising the Connecticut
Hospital Association (CHA), the Connecticut Business &
Industry Association (CBIA), and the Connecticut Association
of Health Plans (CTAHP).
Related
Testimony
Tuesday,
February 20, 2007
CHA
submitted testimony to the Human Services Committee concerning
SB 198, An Act Concerning The Availability Of Interpreter
Services Under The Medicaid Program.
Click
here for testimony on SB 198.
Thursday,
February 8, 2007
CHA
submitted testimony to the Insurance and Real Estate Committee
of the Connecticut General Assembly regarding SB
2, An Act Concerning Health Care Insurance Reform
and HB 6661, An Act Establishing Universal Health
Care Insurance In Connecticut.
Click
here for testimony on SB 2/HB 6661.
Tuesday,
February 6, 2007
CHA,
Connecticut Children's Medical Center, and John Dempsey
Hospital gave testimony to the Select Committee on Children
of the Connecticut General Assembly regarding HB
6722, An Act Concerning Healthy Kids Initiatives:
CHA
Connecticut
Children's Medical Center
John
Dempsey Hospital
Wednesday,
January 31, 2007
CHA
and several member hospitals gave testimony to the Public
Health Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly on
SB 1, An Act Increasing Access to Affordable, Quality
Health Care, and HB 6332, An Act Increasing
Access to Health Care:
CHA
Connecticut
Children's Medical Center
John
Dempsey Hospital
Middlesex
Hospital
Saint
Francis Hospital and Medical Center
Hospital
of Saint Raphael
Waterbury
Hospital
Yale-New
Haven Hospital
2006
Testimony
Tuesday,
March 14, 2006
HB
5595, An Act Concerning The Healthy Kids Initiative
CHA
testified in support of this bill, which would:
-
Restore
self declaration of income in the HUSKY Plan, Part A
and Part B
-
Restore
continuous eligibility in the HUSKY Plan, Part A and
Part B
Click
here to view CHA's testimony on HB 5595.
Tuesday,
March 7, 2006
SB
475, An Act Concerning Revisions To The Husky Plan, Part
A And Part B
HB
5641, An Act Concerning Revisions To The Medicaid Program
CHA
submitted testimony in support of these bills and encouraged
the legislature to:
- Establish
a cost of living increase for hospital inpatient and outpatient
Medicaid rates so that, at a minimum, the difference between
funding and costs does not continue to deteriorate.
- Return
to hospitals the $27 million SAGA cut that was not needed
to balance the budget.
- Increase
the ongoing annual hospital SAGA cap by $15 million so
that SAGA funding can be on par with Medicaid funding.
- Return
to hospitals the $5 million Uncompensated Care Pool cut
that was not needed to balance the budget.
- Eliminate
the next $5 million Uncompensated Care Pool cut scheduled
for this July.
- Restore
declaration of income in the HUSKY Plan, Part A and Part
B
- Restore
continuous eligibility in the HUSKY Plan, Part A and Part
B
- Eliminate
cost sharing requirements (premiums and co-pays) in the
HUSKY Plan, Part A
- Fund
outreach to help families apply for and remain on HUSKY
- Ensure
working families on HUSKY remain on the program for up
to 24 months ("transitional medical assistance")
Click
here to view CHA's testimony on SB 475 and HB 5641.
2005
Testimony
Tuesday,
March 22, 2005
SB
1323, An Act Concerning The Administration Of The Husky
Plan, Part A And Part B and HB 6927, An
Act Concerning Restoration Of Services Available Under The
State-Administered General Assistance Program
CHA
submitted testimony in support of these bills, which would
expand the HUSKY program and restore needed funding to the
SAGA program. Click
here to view the testimony.
Tuesday,
March 1, 2005
HB
6790, An Act Implementing The Recommendations Of The Legislative
Program Review And Investigations Committee Relative To
The Medicaid Eligibility Determination Process
CHA
submitted testimony in support of this bill, which would
implement the recommendations of the Legislative Program
Review and Investigations Committee relative to the Medicaid
eligibility determination process. Click
here to view the testimony.
Tuesday,
February 22, 2005
SB
253, An Act Expanding The HUSKY Program
SB
673, An Act Concerning HUSKY Coverage
HB
5688, An Act Concerning The Establishment Of A Bipartisan
Commission To Review Reimbursement Rates Paid To Participating
Providers In State Medical Assistance Programs
CHA
submitted testimony on these bills, which expand the HUSKY
program by extending eligibility to uninsured persons with
family income up to 300% of the federal poverty level and
allow small businesses that currently do not offer health
insurance to buy into the HUSKY program (SB 253 and SB 673),
and provide for the establishment of a bipartisan commission
to annually review reimbursement rates made to medical providers
in any state medical assistance program and to allow such
commission to increase provider rates to cover the reasonable
costs of the services provided (HB 5688). Click
here to view the testimony.
Thursday,
February 17, 2005
HB
6671, An Act Concerning The State Budget For The Biennium
Ending June 30, 2007, And Making Appropriations Therefor
Stephen
Frayne, CHA Senior Vice President, Health Policy, presented
testimony in opposition to the bill, which would implement
a series of cuts to Department of Social Services safety
net programs to control expenditure growth. Richard
Brvenik, President and CEO, Windham Hospital, and J. Kevin
Kinsella, Vice President, Hartford Hospital submitted testimony,
as did and Yale New Haven Health System.
Click
here to view Mr. Frayne's testimony.
Click
here to view Mr. Brvenik's testimony.
Click
here to view Mr. Kinsella's testimony.
Click
here to view Yale New Haven Health System's testimony.
Tuesday,
February 1, 2005
HB
6438, An Act Concerning Restoration Of Husky Plan, Part
A Benefits For Parents And Needy Caretaker Relatives
CHA
submitted testimony on this bill, which allows the approximately
13,000 working parents and needy caretaker relatives above
the lowered eligibility level (from 150% to 100% of the
federal poverty level, i.e., $23,507 to $15,671 for a family
of three, respectively) to maintain essential health coverage.
Click
here to view the testimony.
2004
Testimony
Wednesday,
September 29, 2004
Testimony
of Stephen A. Frayne, Senior Vice President, Health Policy,
Connecticut Hospital Association, submitted to the Program
Review and Investigations Committee. Click
here to view the testimony.
Thursday,
September 30, 2004
Testimony
of Stephen A. Frayne, Senior Vice President, Health Policy,
Connecticut Hospital Association, submitted to the Department
of Social Services regarding regulations to administer medical
services for the State Administered General Assistance Program
(SAGA). Click
here to view the testimony.
Cover
the Uninsured Week 2004
The
goal of Cover the Uninsured Week 2004, May 10-16, 2004, was
to elevate this issue on the state and national legislative
agendas and educate Americans about the problem. More information
on the week is available at http://covertheuninsuredweek.org.
In Connecticut, CHA and several of its member hospitals held
events and activities as part of Cover the Uninsured Week,
including a panel discussion that was held Tuesday, May 11,
2004, at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.
As part of Connecticut’s observance of national Cover
the Uninsured Week, state officials and healthcare leaders
met to discuss healthcare coverage and access issues at the
panel discussion.
Robert Trefry, President/CEO of Bridgeport Hospital, who moderated
the discussion, opened the event by welcoming participants
and providing the context for the roundtable discussion to
follow. He stressed that the U.S. is one of the only countries
in the industrialized world that does not provide healthcare
for all its citizens. In fact, nearly 44 million Americans
live without health insurance coverage – including 8.5
million children.
The panelists were Senator Christopher Murphy, Co-Chairperson
of the General Assembly’s Public Health Committee; Senator
George Gunther, Ranking Member of the Public Health Committee;
J. Robert Galvin, M.D., Commissioner of the Department of
Public Health (DPH); Cristine Vogel, Commissioner of the Office
of Health Care Access (OHCA); Susan Cogswell, Commissioner
of the Connecticut Insurance Department; Bruce Gould, M.D.,
Associate Dean of Primary Care for the University of Connecticut
School of Medicine; Judy Solomon, Senior Policy Fellow at
Connecticut Voices for Children; Eleanor Seiler, M.D., Senior
Medical Director for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield; Suzette
Benn, MS, Director of Community Health for the Urban League
of Greater Hartford; and Steve Frayne, CHA’s Vice President
of Finance and Insurance Services.
Panelists discussed enrollment simplification for healthcare
coverage, school-based outreach efforts, alternative insurance
structures, the need for more active collaboration, and the
importance of statewide health planning.
Trefry accepted a citation on behalf of all the panelists
from Senator Murphy, commending the healthcare leaders on
their commitment to this issue. The program concluded with
participants signing a pledge to work toward improving and
increasing coverage and access and to “continue the
dialogue about healthcare coverage and access in Connecticut,
at both the statewide and local level.”
Hospitals
also distributed various materials and articles about the
issue of the uninsured:
Greenwich
Hospital
Health
Extension newsletter Article (sent to 80,000 homes in the
Greenwich Hospital
service
area)
Click
here to
read the article.
John
Dempsey Hospital/UConn Health Center
Op
Ed by Bruce Gould, M.D., Associate Dean of Primary Care for
the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Director
of the Connecticut Area Health Education Program and Medical
Director of Saint Francis/UConn Primary Care Center at the
Burgdorf Fleet Health Center
Click
here to
read the Op Ed.
MidState
Medical Center
Focus
newsletter article (sent to 75,000 homes in the MidState Medical
Center service
area)
Click
here to
read the article.
For
additional information, check the following related sites:
Click
here for a series of policy briefs from November 2003
to April 2004 by the Connecticut Health Foundation.
Click
here for a May 2004
report from the Kaiser Family Foundation titled "The Cost
of Care for the Uninsured: What Do We Spend, Who Pays,
and What Would Full Coverage Add to Medical Spending?"
Click
here for a December 2003 report from the Kaiser Family
Foundation titled "Health Insurance Coverage in America: 2002
Data Update."
Click
here for a December 2003 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation
titled "The Uninsured: A Primer - Key Facts about Americans
without Health Insurance." |
