New Haven Independent

Rell’s signature health plan is set to begin service Friday. Legislators grilled top officials Wednesday over funding and coverage concerns they fear may hinder service as the program tries to get off the ground.

An estimated 10 percent of Connecticut’s population lacks health insurance; most of those people have jobs. The state legislature this year passed a plan aimed at dramatically increasing the pool of citizens eligible to join a state employees’ insurance plan, but Rell vetoed it under pressure from the insurance industry and business lobbyists.The more modest Charter Oak plan, with a smaller benefits plan, is her alternative — and even that is stumbling toward a start. Even if the plan gains traction, advocates charge it will keep out too many people with chronic illnesses, a charge the Rell administration denies. (Click here for that story.)

Michael Starkowski, head of the state Department of Social Services, was summoned before the legislature’s Appropriations Committee Wednesday by skeptical legislators seeking answers on the plan.

Sen. Jonathan Harris, D-West Hartford, came forward last week with concerns that not enough doctors and hospitals have agreed to participate in the plan. (Click here to read Christine Stuart’s report.) As of Wednesday, only one hospital — The Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven — had agreed to be part of the Charter Oak Plan. Harris underscored his concerns Wednesday and asked for weekly progress reports.

“I feel like you do — the sooner the better,” said Starkowski in response to legislators’ concerns, “but it does take time to develop a network.” Starkowski said the state has until Nov. 25 to build an adequate provider network, because the program will be “voluntary” until that date.

At a press conference in New Haven Monday, Gov. Rell remained bullish on her trademark plan. She said she was “not worried” about the insufficient provider networks. Click on the play arrow at the top of this story to hear her respond to reporters’ questions about Charter Oak and about the state’s management of HUSKY, the health insurance program for low-income families.

She pointed to some numbers that “speak volumes to the need”: Since she announced the initiative on June 30, the program has received 17,000 calls and over 5,800 applications.

Of those applications, only 214 have been deemed eligible for the program, Starkowski said. The rest have either been rejected or are still in the process of a two-step application process, he said. Of the 214, a total of 24 have opted to enroll in the plan starting Aug. 1. Others may enroll on the first of subsequent months if they so choose.

“No program that you start is going to be a 100 percent on the day that you start it,” Rell said. “It takes time to build it, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”