Connecticut Attorney General's Office
Press Release
Attorney General’s Statement On Health Care Bill
March, 2010
“As a supporter of health care reform, I commend congress for adopting a health care bill -- a historic step toward fairness and access for all in need of critical care and coverage.
“This legislation will make health care more affordable for 80,000 Connecticut businesses, including 37,600 small businesses who will receive tax credits to purchase health insurance. It will immediately prohibit insurers from callously dumping patients, claiming consumers should have known about medical conditions before they emerged.
“Every year my office intervenes on behalf of several hundred Connecticut citizens denied health care coverage for life-saving or life-changing treatments -- because of alleged pre-existing conditions or simply because they got sick. This bill immediately ends such appalling abuses and others, including cancellation of policies when someone falls ill, and using gender, age and other discriminatory factors to charge higher premiums -- measures that will finally protect infants and children with chronic illnesses, seniors, women and others.
“Promisingly, this reconciliation bill corrects several defects in the original Senate bill passed in December, including eliminating the Nebraska Compromise, closing the Medicare doughnut hole for seniors, increasing federal funding for community health centers and to the states to expand Medicaid programs, and adding significant consumer protections to health insurance plans.
“While critical consumer protections will be immediately implemented, most of the federal health care legislative provisions will not take effect for several years, providing time to review and improve the law, if necessary. We will do our best during that time to ensure that all individuals in Connecticut -- not just the lucky or the wealthy -- have access to health care. We will also fight to ensure that all individuals and businesses are protected.
“I have received no official request from an authorized state official to challenge federal health care legislation -- but we will review such a request if we receive it.”