As a result of chronic and substantial hospital underfunding at both the state and federal levels, access to healthcare services and health insurance coverage continue to be serious, unresolved healthcare challenges in Connecticut.

• Nearly 400,000 of Connecticut's non-elderly population, about one in ten people, do not have health insurance coverage.
• Another 500,000 residents have health insurance coverage through the State's Medicaid program, which should ensure them access to healthcare services but doesn't.
• Medicaid recipients are four times more likely and the uninsured are two times more likely than the privately insured individuals to rely on the emergency department (ED) for non-urgent care.

Ensuring a strong, viable hospital system, which in turn will improve access to healthcare services; reducing the number of uninsured individuals; expanding mental health services; and addressing ED overcrowding remain primary goals of CHA's advocacy mission.