New Haven Independent

The bill, House Bill 5536, An Act Establishing the Connecticut Healthcare Partnership, was the most significant legislation passed this Capitol session to deal with the uninsured and underinsured. It would have enabled tens of thousands of people in the state to lower their insurance bills and in many cases get broader coverage by joining the state workers’ health plan. Eligible would have been small businesses, not-for-profits, and local governments.

In her veto message Friday afternoon, M. Jodi Rell argued that the bill is “not the panacea it purports to be. The Partnership would, instead, do relatively little to increase the number of insured in the state while largely duplicating an existing program at a substantial - and potentially enormous - cost to taxpayers.” She issued the veto on the llast day before it would have otherwise become law, and during the time of the work week when politicians generally take actions for which they desire minimal news coverage.

Click here to read the full veto message.

In an ironic twist, Rell used a memo from the office of one of her top critics, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, as part of her case for vetoing the bill.

DeStefano ran against Rell two years ago partly on a universal health care platform. This spring he spoke publicly in favor of this pooling bill and urged her to sign it.

However, his office disputed the bill’s sponsors’ argument that it would save the city of New Haven millions of dollars. The city said it would not join the plan because it had already achieved comparable savings, because it has such a large pool of “lives” in its own plan.

Rell quoted that argument, presented in a letter from DeStefano Chief of Staff Sean Matteson to State Rep. Bill Dyson, in her veto message. She left out another argument Matteson has made publicly about the city’s analysis: that the bill would indeed achieve considerable savings for most other, smaller, municipalities that lack a pool as large as New Haven’s.

Self-Interested Math

Only after the bill passed did a major insurer, Anthem, announce that it would have to raise rates for the state employees’ plan as a result. Gov. Rell said she couldn’t sign a bill that would increase state expenditures in the face of a growing deficit.

However, a wide range of politcians and activists disputed Anthem’s last-minute math, claiming it was both illogical (larger pools lower costs) and an effort to maintain higher profits. Also pressing Rell to veto the bill was the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, which stood to lose customers of its own small-business health insurance plan to the new state pool.

Click here to read about that math debate.

Attorney General Dick Blumenthal injected a middle-road position into the debate: He said Anthem’s math was wrong because the state already has a signed contract for the coming year’s health plan that locks in rates. But he also said that that locked-in contract means a second, separate pool would have to be created for people newly signed up to the plan. (Click here to read about that.)

“Betrayal”

The reaction Friday to Rell’s veto was swift:

• Secretary of the State Bysiewicz, who had traveled the state pushing for the law (see video): “A betrayal of hard-working Connecticut residents.” Release here.

• The headline from the Connecticut Citizens Action Group: “Governor Rell to Insurance Industry: You Win.” Statement here.

• Bill sponsor State Rep. Chris Donovan: “Small businesses, non-profits and municipalities must wait another year for relief while their health care costs continue to go through the roof.” Statement here.

(Click here & here for previous Independent coverage of the bill.)

State Sen. Donald Williams vowed to bring the bill back up next year.

“At a time when health care premiums are rising dramatically, Gov. Rell has taken away a critical tool for small businesses and municipalities to lower their health insurance costs. What a shame,” Williams said in a statement issued by his office Friday afternoon. “I remain committed to passing a health care pooling bill into law and it will be one of our top priorities next legislative session.”

Rell said in her veto message that she’s open to working with legislators to produce a new version of the bill that addresses her concerns.

• Click here for Christine Stuart’s report from the Capitol.