News Release

Policy Analysis of Potential Impact of Governor’s Budget Proposal on HUSKY Parents

The Connecticut Health Foundation (CT Health) today announced the release of a policy analysis paper on the Consequences of Proposed Eligibility Reduction of HUSKY A Parents. The analysis examines the potential impact of Governor Malloy’s budget proposal to change HUSKY A (Medicaid) eligibility requirements in 2014 and 2015, affecting parents of children who are enrolled in HUSKY A and who have an income in the range of 138-185 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.  HUSKY parents would instead be eligible to purchase federally subsidized private insurance through Connecticut’s health insurance exchange, Access Health CT.

The analysis was commissioned by CT Health and conducted by the University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Health Law and Economics.

“The analysis found that the governor’s proposal would make it harder for an estimated 37,500 low-income parents to afford health insurance,” said Elizabeth Krause, vice president of Policy and Communications at CT Health. “While reducing state costs, the total cost of health insurance would increase for this group through the exchange and consumers would pay the difference,” Krause added.

Findings

  • HUSKY parents who currently have no premiums or cost sharing obligations would face, on average, premiums, copays, and deductibles totaling $1,800 a year through Access Health CT. These parents currently receive dental, vision, and non-emergency medical transportation benefits that most commercial plans do not offer.
  • An estimated 7,500-11,000 parents would not purchase subsidized health insurance because of increased out-of-pocket costs – likely ending up uninsured, when increasing coverage is a state and national goal.
  • Even with insurance, cost sharing is a barrier to receiving needed care for families with strained household budgets, and low-income children eligible for Medicaid are less likely to be enrolled if their parents are uninsured.

A full copy of the policy analysis can be found at: https://www.cthealth.org/news-publications/publications/health-policyadvocacy/consequences-of-proposed-eligibility-reduction-of-husky-a-parents.

For technical questions about the analysis, contact Katharine London, Principal Associate, Center for Health Law and Economics, University of Massachusetts Medical School Katharine.london@umassmed.edu.

To speak with parents who are enrolled in HUSKY, contact Jane McNichol, Executive Director, Legal Assistance Resource Center of Connecticut, (860) 278-5688 x201, cell: (203) 427-3909, jmcnichol@larcc.org or Sharon Langer, Interim Executive Director, Connecticut Voices for Children (203) 498-4240, x121, cell: (860) 490-5441, slanger@ctvoices.org

About the Connecticut Health Foundation

The Connecticut Health Foundation (CT Health) is the state’s largest independent health philanthropy dedicated to improving lives by changing health systems.  Since it was established in July 1999, the foundation has supported innovative grant-making, public health policy research, technical assistance and convening to achieve its mission – to improve the health of the people of Connecticut.

Over the past 12 years, CT Health has awarded grants totaling more than $49.4 million in 45 cities and towns throughout the state in three priority areas:

  • Improving access to children’s mental health services
  • Reducing racial and ethnic health disparities
  • Expanding access to and use of children’s oral health services

For more information about the foundation, please visit cthealth.org or contact Senior Communications Officer Maryland Grier at Maryland@cthealth.org or 860.724.1580, ext. 21.

 

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