Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

March 23, 2021

Pandemic aid funds new health insurance subsidies on state’s exchange

Photo | CT-N OHS Executive Director Victoria Veltri speaks during an Oct. 2019 press conference about healthcare costs.
By Liese Klein

Federal pandemic aid will help fund major expansions to the state’s health insurance programs aimed at cutting costs to small businesses and middle-class families, Gov. Ned Lamont and other officials announced Tuesday.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Act, signed earlier this month by President Joe Biden, will pay for subsidies to health plans sold on Connecticut’s Access Health marketplace, allowing families with incomes up to around $100,000 to buy plans that are essentially free, according to Access Health CEO James Michel.

Small business owners and employees are among the groups targeted for outreach about the new subsidies, MIchel said. More federal funds will go toward helping residents pay co-pays and deductibles, he added. In addition, those on Cobra plans after layoffs will get additional subsidies.

“This is a huge win for Connecticut as it provides relief,” Michel said.

The state also plans to tackle drug costs as part of an effort to make health care more affordable, said Victoria Veltri, executive director of the Office of Health Strategy.

The Insurance & Real Estate Committee advanced a bill this week that would put a cap on drug-price increases similar to an effort in Massachusetts.

“We think this is a reasonable approach to address the cost drivers of insurance premiums,” Veltri said of the legislation, which has been targeted by pharmaceutical industry groups.

“We’ve got to drive in the same direction to hold down costs,” Lamont said, speaking of cutting drug prices and other measures designed to hold down the cost of hospitalization. 

“Through his proposal, Governor Lamont would allow state government to get in the way of patients getting the medicines that they need,” reads an online ad funded by the America's Biopharmaceutical Companies trade group that has appeared in recent days.

The governor’s bill also includes a health insurance tax criticized by business groups.

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF