The Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut released their public policy proposal, called SustiNet, today.
The goals of the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut are:
• Guarantee all Connecticut residents access to their choice of high quality health coverage and health care.
• Control costs so that health care is affordable and sustainable for individuals, families, businesses, and taxpayers.
• End residents’ worries about losing access to care when they change jobs, finish school, start a business, experience other life-changing events or have pre-existing conditions.
• Prevent illness and disease where possible and improve health.
• Eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care and health outcomes
The city of Hartford has 34,000 uninsured residents. With a population of about 125,000, this means that around 27-28% of Hartford residents are uninsured. In July of 2008, Where We Live spoke with Mayor Perez about the city task force created to help provide health insurance for those who are uninsured, but who make too much money to qualify for assistance (welfare). This task force has been, among other things, looking at partnering with corporations/private sector. As said in the discussion, someone with an income of $30,000/year can not afford existing options like the Charter Oak Health Plan. Part of the task force’s purpose is to promote healthy lifestyles/prevention.
The SustiNet policy, however, would merge:
state employees and retirees with HUSKY and SAGA participants into a self-insured pool. Three other groups can enter the pool:
• people without access to employer sponsored insurance, including sole proprietors and other self employed individuals;
• people offered employer sponsored insurance that does not provide affordable access to essential care; and
• and employers, starting with small businesses, nonprofits and municipalities, but ultimately including any employer in the state.
HUSKY and SAGA are health care-related forms of welfare.
SustiNet would include home medical services, mental health care, and dental care. Medical home services are broken into three categories: care coordination (non-medical referrals and reminders about immunizations etc.), patient empowerment (encouraging people to quit smoking, improve diets, etc.), and timely access to care (goal is to reduce unnecessary emergency room visits). People with pre-existing conditions would not be turned away, which makes sense since they are among the most vulnerable and in the most need of medical treatment. They are proposing that co-pays and premiums be based on income. For those whose employers do not offer any insurance, they could be self-insured regardless of pre-existing conditions. Those who have inadequate coverage could also switch to a self-insurance plan. What makes something inadequate? “Coverage is also deemed inadequate, regardless of income, if out-of-pocket health care costs are at least 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.” Continue reading 'SustiNet: Health Care for Everyone'»