CT Senate Republicans Unveil Plan to Make Health Care More Affordable

CT Senate Republicans Unveil Plan
to Make Health Care More Affordable

Connecticut Senate Republicans today unveiled “A Better Way to Affordable Health Care” – a comprehensive set of legislative proposals aimed at lowering the cost of health care in Connecticut.  (The plan is attached.)

“For middle-class Connecticut families, the cost of health care is anything but affordable,” said Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly (R -Stratford). “People are taking it on the chin every day, and family budgets are breaking. The system really is rigged against the patient, the situation is getting worse, and we need to level that playing field. Our plan does that through transparency, through competition, and by enabling the marketplace work better for the consumer.  The promises of the Affordable Care Act – to create affordable and accessible quality care for all people – have not been delivered for far too many Connecticut residents. Senate Republicans have pushed for action year after year, and we are again offering thoughtful and impactful solutions to provide relief.  We won’t stop fighting to create a more affordable Connecticut.”

“Connecticut’s average insurance premium for family coverage today is $24,018 per year – that’s third highest in the nation,” said Senator Tony Hwang (R-Fairfield), ranking member of the General Assembly’s Insurance Committee. “Affordability is a crisis in our state.  Crushing insurance rate increases and rising health care costs only add to that. Health care is not affordable in Connecticut, but it doesn’t have to be that way. There is a better way.”

The CT Senate Republican plan will:

• Reduce health insurance premiums by up to 30% over the long term by implementing a state-based reinsurance program
• Reduce healthcare cost growth through benchmarking
• Address prescription drug affordability by tackling practices that drive up the costs of prescription drugs by examining pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and practices such as spread pricing
• Maximize pool purchasing for prescription drugs and health care supplies
• Increase transparency and data sharing to drive down costs
• Allow small businesses to join each other in associations to purchase group health plans together, utilizing the enhanced economy of scale to negotiate significantly lower rates.
• Subject hospitals to the same cost growth benchmarking requirements as insurance carriers and pharmaceutical companies.
• Ensure hospital billing practices are transparent and reflect the site at which the health care service was provided.
• When implementing cost growth benchmarking, ensure the needs of complex care patients, including the IDD community, are being met.
• Promote growth of high-paying, innovative insurance technology jobs