Surgical Override (NL Day Editorial)
http://theday.com/re.aspx?re=58994047-35ed-4dca-8d3a-1ccce51c386c
Published on 7/22/2009
Democratic lawmakers kept health reform alive with Monday’s override of Gov. Rell’s veto of the SustiNet plan. Much work remains, including figuring how to pay for it, but it’s an important start.
How ironic that Connecticut’s Republican governor and GOP lawmakers in the legislature would rather wait for Washington to do something about the health care crisis than begin addressing the problem here at home. Don’t Republicans oppose big federal solutions and fight for state rights?
Yet given a chance to establish universal health care coverage in the state by signing the SustiNet health plan into law, Gov. M. Jodi Rell opted instead to veto it. And when it came to a vote to override on Monday, Republican lawmakers marched in nearly lockstep to sustain the governor’s action.
Thankfully, Democrats in control of the legislature realized the folly of continuing to ignore the health care problem and mustered the votes to override the veto.
Gov. Rell’s main argument was that Connecticut, facing an $8.7 billion deficit over the next two years, cannot afford a universal health care plan. Fair enough, but that position ignores the fact that this is largely a planning bill. It provides broad outlines – any state resident must be eligible for state coverage; coordinated care and preventive practices will be priorities; a government plan will compete with private providers – but specific details, including how to pay for it, must be determined.
The SustiNet plan will not begin enrollment until 2012 and will stretch implementation over five years. This provides time to determine revenues sources and coordinate the state plan with any federal health care legislation that is passed. Most importantly, it gets things moving.
In a recent editorial The Day urged an override of the governor’s veto and is gratified the legislature took that action. Providing health care is a burden for small businesses, unattainable for many of the working poor, and an ongoing crisis for hospitals that must provide free care in the absence of health insurance for 325,000 state residents.
Adopting SustiNet is a critical first step toward a solution.
© 1998-2009 The Day Publishing Co.
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