Insurers urge Gov. Rell to veto legislation that would expand state employee health insurance pool

Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell (R) on Monday released letters from two insurance companies that raised concerns about the cost of legislation that would allow workers at small businesses, municipalities and not-for-profit groups to join the state employee health insurance pool, the Hartford Courant reports.

In one of the letters, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield officials wrote that if the pool is expanded, the insurer would be forced to increase premium rates for state employees by 4%, or by more than $24 million, in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Anthem officials wrote that the bill would expand health care coverage to a larger group of people, which represents "a material change to the underlying assumptions of the bid" that would allow the company to recalculate its bid. Anthem President David Fusco said the company would have to "rescind the second- and third-year rate caps for 2009 and 2010" that the state and company had agreed to under a three-year bid to insure state employees.

In a separate letter, ConnectiCare called on Rell to veto the bill. Stephen Jewett, a spokesperson for ConnectiCare, said, "We believe the bill could damage competition in the current private market, put an unfunded burden upon the state and prevent municipalities from having the flexibility to control their employees' health costs." Rell did not say she would veto the bill, but she said, "I have major concerns" about the measure (Keating, Hartford Courant, 5/20).