By Jenna Carlesso, CT Mirror
Proponents of a measure that would create a public option insurance plan for small businesses and nonprofits said Friday that the proposal will be shelved for a third consecutive year because Gov. Ned Lamont threatened not to sign the bill if it passed the General Assembly.
A watered-down version of the public option bill cleared the House in 2019 but did not come up for a vote in the Senate. And a similar proposal raised last year was suspended after the state Capitol shut down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am disappointed that Governor Lamont has denied affordable health care options to small businesses and nonprofits, despite the obvious need and overwhelming support from the public,” state Comptroller Kevin Lembo, a key backer of the measure, said in a statement Friday. “This is a missed opportunity that will have real life consequences for the small employers in our state that have been pleading for help after taking a massive economic hit from the pandemic. To cast them aside is both a terrible message to send and a severe economic miscalculation.”