Lamont unveils plans to reduce cost of health care, cap price of prescription drugs
The governor s budget proposal does not include an expansion of Medicaid
Gov. Ned Lamont’s health care proposals include a tax on insurance carriers and a limit on cost increases for prescription drugs.
Gov. Ned Lamont unveiled two proposals Wednesday aimed at reducing the cost of health care – an annual assessment on insurance carriers that would bring in money for additional subsidies on Connecticut’s insurance exchange, known as Access Health CT, and a plan to limit yearly increases in the cost of prescription drugs.
Lamont proposed creating the “Covered Connecticut Program,” in which an annual fee would be levied on insurers, similar to the Health Insurance Tax created under the Affordable Care Act. Congress repealed the federal tax in 2019; the repeal took effect last month.
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Saud Anwar
A notable recent example is OCT, a technology highly effective in diagnosing macular degeneration, the top cause of blindness in people over 60. Long after OCT was recognized as a major advance by eye doctors and their associations, insurers insisted it was unproven and refused to pay.
“They typically call anything new ‘experimental’ and dig their heels in for as long as they can to avoid payment,” Emmel said.
So when Emmel and other physicians heard of the trend of insurance companies buying physician practices, they became concerned that insurers’ focus on the bottom line could pose a threat to the quality of patient care.
Democrats eye tax on insurers to fund broader health reform package
Cars queue for Covid-19 testing at Hartford Hospital’s drive-through sampling site on Hudson Street.
Tapping into frustrations over the rising cost of health coverage and a lack of access to care, Democratic lawmakers in Connecticut are planning a package of reforms aimed at reducing expenses for people who buy their health insurance through the state’s exchange and making coverage more affordable for small businesses.
At the center of the proposal is a plan to revive the Health Insurance Providers Fee, more commonly known as the Health Insurance Tax – a tax on carriers created under the Affordable Care Act to help fund federal and state marketplace exchanges. Congress repealed the federal tax on insurers in 2019; the rollback is effective this month.