SustiNet
Encyclopedia
SustiNet is a Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 health care plan passed into law in July, 2009. Its goal is to provide affordable health care coverage to 98% of Connecticut residents by 2014.

Provisions of the legislation

The SustiNet law established a nine-member board to recommend to the legislature, by January 1, 2011, the details of and implementation process for a self-insured health care plan called SustiNet. The recommendations will address (1) the phased-in offering of the SustiNet plan to state employees and retirees, HUSKY A and B beneficiaries, people without employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) or with unaffordable ESI, small and large employers, and others; (2) establishing an entity that can contract with insurers and health care providers, set reimbursement
Reimbursement
Reimbursement is the act of compensating someone for an expense . Often, a person is reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses when the person incurs those expenses through employment or in an account of carrying out the duties for another party or member....

 rates, develop medical home
Medical home
The medical home, also known as the patient-centered medical home , is defined as "a health care setting that facilitates partnerships between individual patients, and their personal providers, and when appropriate, the patient’s family". It is "an approach to providing comprehensive primary care...

s for patients, and encourage the use of health information technology
Health information technology
Health information technology provides the umbrella framework to describe the comprehensive management of health information across computerized systems and its secure exchange between consumers, providers, government and quality entities, and insurers...

; (3) a model benefits package; and (4) public outreach and ways to identify uninsured citizens.

SustiNet emphasizes preventive care and the management of chronic illnesses. It creates a large health insurance pool by combining state employees, retirees, and people covered by state assistance programs. The pool will also be open to members of the public without insurance, those with inadequate insurance, and employers, starting with small businesses, nonprofits and municipalities. Eventually, SustiNet will be open to larger employers wishing to buy into the plan for their employees.

The board establishes committees to make recommendations to it about health information technology, medical homes, clinical care and safety guidelines, and preventive care and improved health outcomes. The act also establishes an independent information clearinghouse to inform employers, consumers, and the public about SustiNet and private health care plans and creates task forces to address obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...

, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 usage, and health care workforce
Workforce
The workforce is the labour pool in employment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, country, state, etc. The term generally excludes the employers or management, and implies those involved in...

 issues. The effective date of the SustiNet law was July 1, 2009 for most provisions.

History

Since 2005, Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut
Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut
Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut is an independent, nonprofit organization with offices in Meriden, Connecticut. The foundation supports the mission of its parent organization, CHART...

 has developed relationships with several key groups that would be instrumental in creating broad change in the health system
Health system
A health system can be defined as the structured and interrelated set of all actors and institutions contributing to health improvement. The health system boundaries could then be referred to the concept of health action, which is "any set of activities whose primary intent is to improve or...

, including medical societies, hospitals, businesses, labor and clergy. In January 2009, the foundation unveiled SustiNet, a proposal for a statewide health care plan for Connecticut that would provide residents with their choice of health coverage and care regardless of their employment status, age, or pre-existing conditions. An estimated 1,000 people attended a rally at Union Station (Hartford)
Union Station (Hartford)
Hartford Union Station is the main railway station in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. . The historic station building is near the State Capitol Building. It is a Richardsonian Romanesque building designed by George Keller and built in 1889. A 1914 fire required that it be completely rebuilt,...

 for the release of the plan.

In February, the 18,500-member Connecticut Association of Realtors announced its support for the SustiNet health care plan. Realtors are independent contractors and are representative of the plight of many independent contractors and small business employees in Connecticut in that they do not have access to group health insurance. Also in that month, the independent statewide organization "Small Businesses for Health Care Reform" endorsed the SustiNet health care reform proposal and encouraged other business owners to review and support it. In March 2009, the foundation's SustiNet plan was formally endorsed by the Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Health Care, a group devoted to health reform, as well as by dozens of other religious leaders representing a wide range of faiths in Connecticut. Fellowship members include Rabbi Stephen Fuchs of Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford, a co-chairman of the Interfaith Fellowship, and Bilal Ansari, a Muslim chaplain at Saint Francis Hospital & Medical Center
Saint Francis Hospital & Medical Center
Saint Francis Hospital & Medical Center is an acute care hospital located on Woodland Street in Hartford, Connecticut. The hospital was established in 1897 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Chambéry. The hospital has 617 beds and 65 bassinets. It is the largest Catholic hospital in New...

 in Hartford, where much of his counseling involves helping families cope with not just the stress of a relative's illness, but the worries about how they will pay for it.

SustiNet passed its first legislative hurdle Thursday, March 26, receiving an endorsement from the state legislature's Public Health Committee. The committee voted 22-8 to move the bill forward. On April 22, SustiNet received a favorable report from a second committee, the Human Services Committee, which voted 13-6 for the bill. On April 29, SustiNet received a favorable report from a third committee, the Labor and Public Employees Committee, which voted 8-3 for the bill. On May 7, 2009, Sustinet received a favorable report from a fourth committee, the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, which voted 13-4 for the bill.

On May 20, 2009, the Connecticut House of Representatives voted 107-35 for SustiNet. On May 30, 2009, the Connecticut Senate voted 23-12 for SustiNet. SustiNet was sent to Governor Jodi Rell
M. Jodi Rell
Mary Jodi Rell is a Republican politician and was the 87th Governor of the U.S. state of Connecticut from 2004 until 2011. She was the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut under Governor John G. Rowland, who resigned during a corruption investigation. Rell is Connecticut's second female Governor,...

, who vetoed it on July 8. On July 20, 2009, the governor's vetoes were overridden by the Connecticut House of Representatives with a vote of 102 to 40 and then by the Connecticut Senate with a vote of 24-12.

The work of the nine member SustiNet board began in July 2009 and in September two more position were added to the board. The 11 member board guides four committees and three task forces, which will report to the General Assembly in July 2010. Enrollment in the program will begin in July 2012.

With the March 23, 2010 signing of a national health care bill, the SustiNet board had until May 2010 to report to the General Assembly regarding how to implement the federal law in Connecticut. That report was released by the SustiNet Board of Directors on May 27, 2010. The report “plots a course for our future conversations and acknowledges the federal interaction in a solid way,” said board Co-Chair Kevin Lembo, the current state comptroller and former state health care advocate.

SustiNet Board members

Board of Directors Co-Chairs:

The Honorable Kevin Lembo,
State Comptroller

The Honorable Nancy Wyman
Nancy Wyman
Nancy S. Wyman is the 108thThe State of Connecticut recognizes Nancy Wyman as the 108th Lieutenant Governor, using a standard that had counted Colonial period lieutenants as well as counting lieutenants who had served multiple times as only one individual figure. Wyman is considered the 88th...

,
Lieutenant Governor

Board of Directors Members:

Bruce Gould, MD, FACP,
Director,
Connecticut AHEC

Paul Grady, MBA,
Principal,
Mercer

Bonita Grubbs, MPH, MA,
Executive Director,
Christian Community Action

Norma Gyle, RN, PhD,
Deputy Commissioner,
Department of Public Health,
State of Connecticut

Jeffrey Kramer, PhD, MBA,
Associate Professor-in-Residence and
Director Programs in Healthcare and Insurance Studies,
University of Connecticut School of Business

Estela Lopez, PhD, MA

Sal Luciano,
Executive Director,
Council 4 AFSCME

Joseph McDonagh, CLU, ChFC

Jamie Mooney,
Vice President and CIO,
Norwalk Hospital

Ex-Officio Members:

Michael Starkowski,
Commissioner,
Department of Social Services,
State of Connecticut

Thomas Sullivan,
Commissioner,
Department of Insurance,
State of Connecticut

Christine Vogel,
Deputy Commissioner,
Office of Health Care Access,
Department of Public Health,
State of Connecticut

See also

  • Connecticut
    Connecticut
    Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

  • Health care reform in the United States
    Health care reform in the United States
    Health care reform in the United States has a long history, of which the most recent results were two federal statutes enacted in 2010: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , signed March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 , which amended the PPACA and...

  • Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut
    Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut
    Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut is an independent, nonprofit organization with offices in Meriden, Connecticut. The foundation supports the mission of its parent organization, CHART...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK