SusiNet

I am going to be honest with you, I was not ecstatic the first moment I heard about the SustiNet bill. In fact, I was very skeptical. I tell you this because I feel that it adds merit to the fact that I now whole-heartily support the bill and will advocate to have it become a reality in Connecticut.



"SustiNet" is a new health care program thats purpose is to extend health insurance to Connecticut's uninsured. This includes people with unaffordable or inadequate insurance; small businesses, municipalities, non-profits and businesses of any size; self-employed and self proprietors; and the uninsured. This is done by the state pooling together state employees, HUSKY and SAGA which in turn., creates a large self-insured health plan.. There are obviously many other factors that go into the foundation of the plan, but I believe this sums up the overall picture.

The bill, HB 6600, was first introduced to me by some Yale college students that came to the Capitol to plead for support from legislators. As a Legislative Aide, I went to speak to them on behalf of one of my legislators. At first glance my impression of the bill was that it appeared structurally solid, worthy in principle and had passionate supporters backing it. However, I had one question; the million dollar question (or closer to the 8 billion dollar question if you're talking about Connecticut) is how much is this going to cost the state?



Their answer is what sparked my skepticism. It basically went along the lines of that the bill is revenue neutral for the first two years but than after that it is still uncertain. Due to the budget crisis, this made me a little uneasy. See, the problem is that the State of Connecticut is partially reimbursed for HUSKY by the federal government. However, the federal government will not reimburse the state if the payment exceeds a certain payment level. SusiNet, according to Connecticut's Office of Fiscal Analysis, cannot be determined to stay under the limit and thus creating the potential problem of not being able to receive total reimbursement.

The reason I give you this information is because I believe this is and will be the Nay-Sayer's biggest argument against the bill. It was again the reason I was not initially ecstatic about the bill. But now let me give you the reasons why I have turned around for SusiNet and believe it is what Connecticut needs more than ever.

I look at SusiNet as a calculated risk. Connecticut Congressmen, spearheaded my Congressman Murphy, support this kind of health care reform as do many others serving us on the federal level. We across the country have voted for those that believe our health care system is broken and new measures must be created. So it is reasonable to believe that changes are going to be made on the national level which in return will allow for SusiNet to prosper and maintain complete funding. On the contrary, the gamble would be to keep health care the same in Connecticut, which is financially hurting the state and bankrupting so many of our residents.

There is also the key factor of having President Obama. We voted Obama in to make changes to our country and one of his promises to us was that he was going to do all he could to fix health care. Connecticut could be one of the first states to reform the system and why not try knowing we have an ace in the hole: a president that wants to see the United States on a health care plan more like SusiNet than in its current stage. Perhaps, Connecticut will have the plan that will be modeled off of nationally.

The bill may not have all the certainties laid out but then again, what is a certainty any more? As General Patton said, "It's better to go with a good plan early, than a great plan too late". Well, I think this plan is "very good" so let's go with it before it's to late. Connecticut deserves it.