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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7101
January Session, 2025
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A COMMISSION TO STUDY A HUSKY FOR
ALL SINGLE-PAYER UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section, "HUSKY 1
for All Single-Payer Universal Health Care Program" means a single-2
payer universal health care program open to any state resident that: (1) 3
Eliminates duplicative health insurance programs and resulting 4
duplicative costs to the extent permissible under state and federal law; 5
(2) consolidates oversight, payment and risk under one public or quasi-6
public entity; (3) eliminates coverage limits and cost-sharing 7
requirements, including, but not limited to, (A) deductibles, (B) 8
copayments, and (C) coinsurance; (4) incorporates prescription drug 9
price controls; and (5) establishes budgets and payment systems for 10
hospitals for overnight care and a uniform fee schedule for health care 11
providers not providing overnight care. 12
(b) There is established a commission to study and make 13
recommendations concerning establishing a HUSKY for All Single-14
Payer Universal Health Care Program in the state. The commission may 15
contract with an independent person or entity for an economic analysis 16
of establishing such program, provided such person or entity has 17
completed not less than two such economic analyses of establishing a 18
single-payer universal health care program on the state or federal level. 19 Substitute Bill No. 7101
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(c) The commission shall be comprised of: 20
(1) The Commissioner of the Office of Health Strategy, established 21
pursuant to section 19a-754a of the general statutes, or the 22
commissioner's designee; 23
(2) The chief executive officer of the Connecticut Health Insurance 24
Exchange, established pursuant to section 38a-1081 of the general 25
statutes, or the chief executive officer's designee; 26
(3) The chairperson of the Council on Medical Assistance Program 27
Oversight, established pursuant to section 17b-28 of the general statutes, 28
or the chairperson's designee; 29
(4) The Healthcare Advocate, appointed pursuant to section 38a-1042 30
of the general statutes, or the Healthcare Advocate's designee; 31
(5) The chairpersons of the Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight 32
Council, established pursuant to section 17a-22j of the general statutes, 33
or their designees; 34
(6) The chairpersons of the joint standing committees of the General 35
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services, 36
insurance, labor and public health, or their designees; 37
(7) The Insurance Commissioner and the Commissioner of Social 38
Services, or their designees; 39
(8) The State Comptroller, or the State Comptroller's designee; 40
(9) The chief executive officer of an organization representing 41
hospitals in the state, or the chief executive officer's designee, appointed 42
by the Commissioner of Health Strategy; 43
(10) The president of a medical society representing doctors in the 44
state, or the president's designee, appointed by the Commissioner of 45
Health Strategy; 46
(11) Two providers of medical services under the medical assistance 47 Substitute Bill No. 7101
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program and two persons who receive such services under the program, 48
appointed by the chairperson of the Council on Medical Assistance 49
Program Oversight; 50
(12) One representative each from two patient advocacy 51
organizations, appointed by the Commissioner of Health Strategy; 52
(13) Two representatives of organizations representing the private 53
insurance industry, appointed by the Insurance Commissioner; 54
(14) Two representatives of labor unions representing employees 55
who work in health care fields, appointed by the Commissioner of 56
Health Strategy; 57
(15) A representative of an organization representing businesses and 58
industry in the state, appointed by the Commissioner of Health 59
Strategy; and 60
(16) Two persons from academia with expertise in economics or 61
health insurance, or both, appointed by the Commissioner of Health 62
Strategy, provided such persons shall not be among the independent 63
persons contracting with the commission to produce an economic 64
analysis on establishing a HUSKY for All Single-Payer Universal Health 65
Care Program. 66
(d) The commission shall meet not later than thirty days after the 67
effective date of this section. The Commissioner of Health Strategy, or 68
the commissioner's designee, shall serve as a chairperson of the 69
commission and a second chairperson shall be chosen by the 70
commission from among the members of the commission. The Joint 71
Committee on Legislative Management shall provide administrative 72
support to the commission. Any vacancies shall be filled by the 73
appointing authority. If an appointing authority does not fill a vacancy 74
within thirty days, the Commissioner of Health Strategy shall fill the 75
vacancy. 76
(e) The commission shall study: 77 Substitute Bill No. 7101
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(1) Current health care spending, including, but not limited to: (A) 78
State costs of the state medical assistance program and the state 79
employee health plan established pursuant to section 5-259 of the 80
general statutes, (B) state costs of the Connecticut Health Insurance 81
Exchange, and (C) average individual consumer monthly health care 82
costs for (i) participation in medical assistance programs requiring cost 83
sharing by a participant, (ii) premiums for participants in the 84
Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange, (iii) premiums for private 85
health insurance plans, and (iv) premiums for Medicare supplement 86
plans, Medicare health maintenance organization plans and Medicare 87
drug plans. 88
(2) Sources of current health care financing, including, but not limited 89
to: (A) Federal cost sharing for the medical assistance program, (B) 90
employer and employee costs for private health insurance, (C) federal 91
cost sharing for the Medicare program, and (D) participant cost sharing 92
under the medical assistance program or the Medicare program. 93
(3) A financing methodology for a HUSKY for All Single-Payer 94
Universal Health Care Program, including, but not limited to, whether 95
such program should be financed, in part, through taxation on 96
employers and employees. 97
(4) An economic analysis of establishing a HUSKY for All Single-98
Payer Universal Health Care Program, including, but not limited to, a 99
comparison of: (A) State costs for the medical assistance program and 100
oversight by the Insurance Department of private health care insurance 101
and state costs under a HUSKY for All Single-Payer Universal Health 102
Care Program, (B) consumer costs for private health care insurance and 103
consumer costs under a HUSKY for All Single-Payer Universal Health 104
Care Program, including any costs if the program is covered in part by 105
taxation of a consumer, (C) employer costs for private health care 106
insurance and employer costs if a HUSKY for All Single-Payer Universal 107
Health Care Program is covered in part by taxation of an employer, and 108
(D) participant cost sharing for medical assistance programs or 109
Medicare and costs for such consumers under a HUSKY for All Single-110 Substitute Bill No. 7101
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Payer Universal Health Care Program. 111
(5) Provider payment rates under the medical assistance program, 112
Medicare program and the private health insurance market and 113
recommendations for provider payment rates under a HUSKY for All 114
Single-Payer Universal Health Care Program. 115
(6) The number of residents uninsured or underinsured under the 116
current health care coverage programs and the number of persons 117
estimated to be uninsured or underinsured under a HUSKY for All 118
Single-Payer Universal Health Care Program. 119
(7) What entity, or entities, should oversee a HUSKY for All Single-120
Payer Universal Health Care Program. 121
(8) A timeline for adoption of a HUSKY for All Single-Payer 122
Universal Health Care Program, including, but not limited to, (A) 123
implementing any financing methodology to fund such program, (B) 124
eliminating the oversight of any agencies or offices currently overseeing 125
health care coverage, and (C) creating new oversight entities. 126
(9) The impact on the labor market of a single-payer universal health 127
care system that eliminates private insurance and the impact of a system 128
that allows an employee to retain insurance provided by an employer. 129
(f) Not later than January 1, 2026, the commission shall report, in 130
accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, 131
on the results of its study and recommendations to the Office of Health 132
Strategy and the joint standing committees of the General Assembly 133
having cognizance of matters relating to human services, insurance, 134
labor, public health and finance, revenue and bonding. The commission 135
shall dissolve on the date such report is submitted or January 1, 2026, 136
whichever is later. 137
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 New section Substitute Bill No. 7101
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Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Subsec. (c)(9), (10), (12), (14), (15) and (16) and Subsec. (d),
"Commissioner of the Office Health Strategy" was changed to
"Commissioner of Health Strategy" for statutory consistency, and in
Subsec. (d), "executive director's" was changed to "commissioner's" and
"the Commissioner of the Office of Health Strategy or the appointing
authority" was changed to "the appointing authority" for clarity.
HS Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO