WICS Live: Around the States

Connecticut: State Lawmakers Override Governor’s Veto, Approve Framework for Universal Health Care Program in State. The legislation, approved by lawmakers July 20th following Governor Jodi Rell’s (R) veto July 8th, establishes a 9-member board of directors that must submit recommendations on the implementation of SustiNet Plan by January 1, 2011. SustiNet will be a self-insured health care plan that will be offered to state employees and retirees, current HUSKY enrollees (which is the state’s CHIP), Medicaid beneficiaries, and persons without or unable to afford employer-sponsored health insurance. The legislation also calls for the panel to make recommendations on numerous other aspects of the plan, including development of a model benefits package, public outreach and methods of identifying uninsured citizens, and the creation of task forces to study specific issues including obesity, tobacco use and the health care workforce. The legislation does not specify from where funds for the program will come. While Rell lauded the goal of SustiNet, she vetoed the legislation because, she believed, the state could not afford to proceed with the plan given its financial implications. The program is estimated to cost $1 billion annually.