Time is Now for Action on Health Care

by Frances G. Padilla

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown all of us onto an uncertain path forward to health and well-being. We do not know how and when the residents of our state will enjoy a world without this public health threat. We do know that, despite our collective best efforts to keep safe, people are suffering physically, emotionally and financially.

The current plan is to call our representatives and senators into a special session this month. So far, health care is missing from the proposed agenda. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on people’s finances and health, and waiting until 2021 for help could prove to be deadly and economically catastrophic for many. Legislators need to intervene now.

Action is desperately needed as evidenced all around us:

Black and brown people have died from this virus and felt its cruel impact at higher rates than white people in our state. Racial inequity in health care has been a long-standing and persistent crisis in Connecticut and beyond, but the pandemic has now starkly exposed it to those who formerly turned a blind eye. Essential workers are disproportionately people of color, putting them at increased risk for contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to their families. Too many immigrants have no chance of getting health insurance.

“The people of Connecticut want legislators to take action on health care. If legislators don’t intervene now, when will they think it’s important enough to do so?”

Unemployment is at a high level because of COVID-19, raising the uninsured rate with it. The number of people without health insurance is estimated to have increased by 30 percent. In our state, that means an estimated 50,000 people found themselves with no health insurance during a pandemic. That figure does not include the functionally uninsured, who have insurance coverage but cannot afford co-pays and deductibles — let alone surprise medical bills.

So what does this mean for the residents of Connecticut, and how they view the uncertain path forward?

Nearly 1,000 residents were surveyed in May of this year. When asked what issues government should address in the upcoming year, two-thirds of them said health care was their top priority — ranking it above any other issue, including joblessness and the economy. Across party lines, they showed high levels of support — at percentages in the mid 80s to low 90s — for bold government actions to address the high cost of health care. The people of Connecticut want legislators to take action on health care. If legislators don’t intervene now, when will they think it’s important enough to do so?

There is a lot that our legislators could do to help state residents now. First, they should ensure that everyone can get COVID-19 testing and treatment without cost-sharing for the duration of the pandemic. Right now, those protections are time-limited and insurers are not bound to comply. Other ideas include offering subsidies to make coverage and care more affordable to people who buy their own insurance and aligning HUSKY eligibility of parents to the same level as their children.

Connecticut residents are hurting today. They have been in pain for months, and some even longer. They want action before the November elections. Don’t let us down.

Frances G. Padilla is president of the Universal Health Care Foundation of CT.