Senator Kelly Hosts Follow-Up Insurance Forum at Capitol

Senator Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford) today hosted a second insurance forum at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford to address the rising cost of health care and job creation in the insurance and health care fields.

“In December I hosted an insurance forum and had many carriers and brokers join me in Hartford to discuss the challenges they face, today was the follow-up to that forum as we had many providers here to discuss the impediments they face in offering quality and cost-effective services, retaining an educated work force, and delivering transparency in cost to their consumers,” said Sen. Kelly.

The panelists today included:

• Raouf Boules, Ph.D.: Dean, School of Health and Natural Sciences, University of Saint Joseph
• Pat Charmel: President and Chief Executive Officer of Griffin Hospital
• Pat McCabe: Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance – Yale New Haven Health
• Ken Ferrucci: Senior Vice President, Government Affairs CT Medical Society
• James Iacobellis: Senior Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs – Connecticut Hospital Association
• Matt Katz: Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the Connecticut Medical Society
• Shelly Sweatt: Vice President and General Counsel, TR Paul Inc.
• Paul Taheri, MD, MBA: Deputy Dean for Clinical Affairs, Yale School of Medicine CEO, Yale Medicine

“Today I heard a similar message from many of the panelists, where they pleaded for the legislature to simply, ‘take a step back and thoughtfully examine the proposals that we have put in place over the past few years and the impact they have had on the state’,” said Sen. Kelly. “I think this is great feedback, before we jump to increase burdens and mandates we should be examining how the bills that we have passed in recent years have affected the industry as a whole.”

“In addition to the suggestion of taking a step back, I heard many good ideas today that will help continue to cement Connecticut as the Insurance Capitol, including: the idea of a loan forgiveness program to encourage young, educated workers to stay in the state; ways in which we can help improve telemedicine and technology in our state; and suggestions to increase transparency in costs which will ultimately benefit the consumer in making informed decisions.”

“I look forward to continuing to have an open dialogue with everyone including the carriers and brokers, the providers, and the consumers. Bringing everyone to the table to address the rising costs of health care and job creation is the only way we can move forward as a state and provide an economic reality that benefits the hard-working middle-class families of Connecticut, and create a place where insurance and health care are accessible and affordable,” said Sen. Kelly.