Senate Leadership
June 5, 2007
Williams’ HealthFirst Connecticut Initiative Passes State Senate by Two-Thirds Majority
Year-long priority increases access to quality, affordable health care
State Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) today hailed the passage in the state Senate of his number one legislative priority-the landmark HealthFirst Connecticut health care access initiative. The measure passed by a two-thirds majority, 24 to 12.
"Nearly a year ago, we set out with the goal of increasing access to quality, affordable health care in our state with the eventual objective of providing access to quality health care for everyone in the state," Sen. Williams said. "This legislation is an important and critical step toward that objective."
The HealthFirst Connecticut plan:
- Raises the income limit for HUSKY A (Medicaid) coverage for caretaker relatives
- Expands HUSKY-A coverage for pregnant women and HUSKY-B coverage for children in higher-income families, with premium assistance for families with access to employer-sponsored coverage
- Requires automatic enrollment of uninsured newborns in HUSKY
- Requires the Social Services Department (DSS) and other entities to expand HUSKY outreach
- Requires DSS to seek a federal waiver to convert the State-Administered General Assistance (SAGA) program from a fully state-funded program to a Medicaid-funded one and potentially raises the income limit for this coverage
- Requires DSS, within available appropriations, annually to increase the rates it pays Medicaid providers, including hospitals
- Creates the HealthFirst Connecticut Authority to recommend alternatives for affordable quality health care coverage for uninsured and underinsured people and a Statewide Primary Care Authority to develop a universal system for providing primary care services, including prescription drugs, to all Connecticut residents
- Mandates that the Public Health Department (DPH) develop standards to facilitate the development of a statewide, integrated "electronic health information system" for use by health care providers
- Requires the DSS commissioner to develop a plan for a preventive health services system for children covered by HUSKY A and B and establish a child health quality improvement program
- Extends from age 23 to 26, the age that children can be covered by their parents insurance
- Requires DSS to inventory public disease management programs, develop an electronic license renewal system for certain professions, and the healthcare advocate to create a consumer health information Website. It also appropriates funds for various school- and community-based health center operations.
"We must realize that there is a health care crisis in the state," Sen. Williams said. "350,000 of our residents have no health insurance. Add that to the number of people who are insured but can't get access because of low Medicaid reimbursement rates and you have an unacceptable situation for the wealthiest state in the wealthiest country in the world. There are resources already at our disposal-we spend more than $22 billion per year on health care in Connecticut. The current system is broken and we can and must do better."
Added Sen. Williams, "I am convinced that we must work toward a Medicare-for-all-type program that brings better quality, simplicity and affordability in health care to all of our citizens. While this is best accomplished on the national level, in the absence of national leadership we must move forward in Connecticut to resolve the obstacles and issues, including federal approvals and waivers. This will take time, but we must begin now."
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Senator Williams’ Larry Cook |
Listing of Leadership’s recent press releases. |
Senator Looney’s Larry Cook |
