State Senator Toni Nathaniel Harp
July 8, 2009
Harp ‘Extremely Disappointed’ as Rell Vetoes Two Healthcare Initiatives
State Senator Toni N. Harp (D-New Haven) today described Governor Rell’s veto of two important healthcare initiatives as ‘unfortunate’ and said the governor missed a timely opportunity to advance the cause of accessible, affordable healthcare in Connecticut.
Today the governor vetoed HB6600, the bill to establish what’s called the SustiNet Health Partnership, with oversight responsibility for the state’s vast healthcare delivery network. She also vetoed HB6582, referred to as the ‘healthcare pooling’ bill, which would’ve extended the state employees’ health insurance benefits to employees of participating municipal governments and some non-profit organizations.
“Connecticut is in dire need of a one-stop, executive level clearinghouse for all healthcare matters ranging from the economic viability of hospitals to insurance reimbursement rates to the expanded use of electronic record-keeping, and SustiNet was the means to that end,” Senator Harp said. “The legislation vetoed today was visionary in its attempt to move Connecticut forward, and it’s extremely disappointing to be denied that progress.”
Senator Harp was also a long-standing supporter of expanded healthcare coverage to include more residents in the state plan.
“The idea behind healthcare pooling was to open up the state plan to the employees of cities and towns, saving those local governments money and distributing the risk to insurers over a larger pool of participants,” Senator Harp said. “Quite honestly I fail to understand how the governor can overlook basic lessons about economies of scale and how they could potentially save local governments tens of thousands of dollars in the cost of providing healthcare coverage.”
Senator Harp said that with today’s vetoes, Connecticut missed a perfect opportunity to dramatically alter the state’s healthcare landscape at a time when the state’s economic fortunes demand bold decisions to alter the burdensome trend of spiraling healthcare costs and the weighty healthcare bureaucracy.
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