Senate Leadership
November 19, 2007
Williams, Looney Await More Details on Governor’s Sweeping Takeover of HUSKY Plan
How will DSS handle health care management for over 300,000 state residents?
Senate President Donald E. Williams, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) and Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) today welcomed Gov. M. Jodi Rell's insistence upon the inclusion of FOI requirements in future HUSKY managed care contracts, but also questioned the administration's ability to quickly and effectively carry out health care management for 300,000 state residents.
"I'm glad the governor is taking this FOI issue seriously. And I'm sure that such dramatic action on the part of the governor today has been taken with a great deal of forethought and planning," Sen. Williams said. "I'm looking forward to the governor sharing with the legislature and the public all the spadework and policy details that they have developed, and showing us exactly how DSS is prepared to successfully take on the enormous burden of providing health care management to 300,000 children and others in 10 days."
"I am happy that the governor is insisting that these insurers meet all the FOI requirements. We have been advocating for the release of this vitally important information for several years," Sen. Looney said. "There is so much state money involved here that these insurers are essentially acting as a governmental agency. Accountability and openness on their part are essential in order to guarantee that hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds are being well-administered and that these important services are being provided in an appropriate manner."
Since October 2004, Sens. Williams and Looney have been seeking to determine how much public money these four HUSKY managed care organizations (MCOs) are paying doctors and other providers. Another unanswered issue is the MCOs rate of denial for prescription drugs, which drugs they deny, and how often.
In November 2006, Superior Court Judge George Levine ruled that the MCOs were subject to the FOI Act because they perform a governmental function in administering a managed care program that spends approximately $700 million a year to serve over 300,000 children and adults in Connecticut.
The most recent letter on the matter from Sens. Williams and Looney was sent to state Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Michael Starkowski on August 21, 2007. The letter notes in part their desire that all four HUSKY MCOs be required to sign an amendment accepting public accountability under the FOI ACT "as an absolute condition to any further state contracts" beyond Sept. 1, 2007.
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Senator Williams’ Larry Cook |
Listing of Leadership’s recent press releases. |
Senator Looney’s Larry Cook |
