Sens. Hwang, Kelly, Harding: Still time to pass affordable healthcare & insurance legislation

For Immediate Release

Sen. Tony Hwang, ranking member of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, Sen. Kevin Kelly, former co-chair of the committee, and Sen. Republican Leader Stephen Harding issued the following statement regarding the Insurance and Real Estate Committee’s failure to advance any bills to provide affordable healthcare options for Connecticut families.

“Frustrating. Disappointing. Baffling. Here we are, in the ‘Insurance Capital of the World’, and the insurance committee is unable to pass any bills to lower health insurance costs for Connecticut families? Not one? It’s unprecedented. The only losers in this scenario are the overburdened working and middle-class families across our state who are dealing with unaffordable health insurance costs. Health insurance premiums are the size of mortgage payments. We do however, have several weeks to go before the legislative session adjourns. In the time remaining, we must continue to push for the passage of legislation which lowers the cost of health insurance.”

In addition to bills offered by the governor and by the State Department of Insurance, another bill which failed to receive a vote was a proposal which received a bipartisan show of support from lawmakers as well as nonprofit organizations and small businesses. That proposed legislation would have allowed working and middle-class employees of small companies get more affordable insurance by pooling their resources together. The legislation had the support of groups like:

• Working and middle-class families
• Associated Builders and Contractors
• Chambers of Commerce
• Women’s Business Development Council
• Connecticut Association of REALTORS
• The Connecticut Business and Industry Association
• The Connecticut Non-Profit Alliance
• The Connecticut State Medical Society
• The Connecticut Brewers Guild
• The Credit Union League of Connecticut