Governor’s health reform council meeting

In Governor Rell’s message when she vetoed HB-6600, the SustiNet bill, she created a CT Health Care Reform Advisory Board. Her board mirrors the SustiNet Board in many ways, but largely includes people appointed by or who work for her. While the legislature over-rode her veto and the SustiNet Board has been up and running for months, the Governor has decided to convene her group anyway. They met for the first time yesterday. Membership is very conservative including the insurance industry, an insurance broker representing a very conservative small business coalition, state agencies, and some providers. No consumer voices are at the table. Members urged payment reform, health system reform, and health information technology. Covering the uninsured rarely came up; ensuring that people get the value they pay for out of insurance, curbing insurance company abusive practices, limiting administrative overhead and profits, and protecting consumer rights were never mentioned. There was a great deal of criticism of current federal reform proposals. Aetna made a remarkable, and expensive, offer – they will provide free actuarial support to cost out the group’s recommendations. I guess they are confident that the group will only endorse options they agree with. Aetna also got the Chair to agree to move up the date for final recommendations from January 2011 (after Governor Rell’s term is over) to the middle of 2010.
Ellen Andrews