Lawmakers Vote To Set Up State Health Agency

HARTFORD (AP) — Connecticut moved a step closer this week to setting up a new health insurance marketplace, backing legislation in the state Senate establishing a health insurance exchange called for by federal law.

The Democratic-led Senate approved the measure 23-13 with near-unanimous opposition by Republicans. The legislation establishing the Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange, a quasi-public agency, now heads to the House of Representatives for debate. The legislative session ends June 8.

A 14-member board would manage the exchange, including an online marketplace where individuals and employers with up to 50 workers can compare and purchase health insurance plans that, starting in 2014, meet federal requirements. Health exchanges are essentially marketplaces where consumers who enroll can comparison shop for insurance plans.

The aim is to bring down prices and get more people insured. The exchanges are set to open for business in 2014.

The Connecticut exchange would certify, recertify and decertify health benefit plans, provide enrollment periods, maintain a website offering standardized comparative information on health plans and screen applications to determine eligibility for Medicaid, the state Children’s Health Insurance Program or other state public insurance programs and enroll eligible applicants.

“It makes getting health care easier for folks,” said Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn. “Individuals and small businesses will be able to get the information they need to make the choice that’s best for them and have access to health care in a way that’s most cost effective for them.”

Republican Senator Jason Welch of Bristol said the exchange is another costly government program.

“We have a lot of mandates in this state and we passed more in this session and we’ll probably pass more in the last few days,” he said. “A lot of these mandates are really expensive.”

Several other states are setting up the exchanges, with some legislatures meeting resistance from conservatives who opposed the federal health care legislation enacted in March 2010 by the Democratic-led Congress and President Barack Obama.

Beginning in 2014, Americans would be required to carry health insurance through an employer, a government program, or their own purchase.

Senator Joseph J. Crisco Jr, Senate chairman of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, said Connecticut residents and businesses could choose from among various plans that offer a range of benefits at different costs. States have three years to work out details of health insurance offerings, he said.

Senator Michael McLachlan, R-Danbury, warned that the legislature would give bonding and taxing authority to a new quasi-government agency with no limits on revenue generated to finance the new agency.