As the massive, 1,100-page federal budget’s impacts on Connecticut continue to be revealed, there’s one common thread about its changes to Connecticut – they’re expected to wreak havoc on health care access and services.
State officials have been speaking out about the changes, which are likely to be implemented over the next decade. According to CT News Junkie, state officials including Gov. Ned Lamont said the overall threats to Medicaid represent $13 billion in the next 10 years, with additional cuts expected to be automatically triggered by the bill’s expansion of the national debt.
Such shifts pose threats to Connecticut’s health care systems, with Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance marketplace for programs under the Affordable Care Act, noting that 50,000 or more of its customers – as much as one-third of its total service network – could lose care in the next decade.
Access Health CT laid out the issue, noting the gradual implementation of the bill’s provisions. Customers participating under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program will lose access to care in August while immigrants with green cards will lose access at the beginning of next year.
Additional barriers to care will be phased in over time, according to Access Health CT. They include increased administrative steps for consumers, who will now be required to reconfirm their coverage every six months instead of annually. The bill will also eliminate financial assistance for many consumers and implement higher out-of-pocket costs.
This will have a secondary impact, as residents who lose access to preventative care or health care access will visit emergency rooms as conditions and illnesses become acute; the overall impact of lost care will worsen public health while putting additional strain on state hospitals, several of which are financially struggling.
The Connecticut Post reported that decreases to Medicaid coverage will harm federally qualified health centers, which are nonprofits seeking to treat all patients who need aid. Roughly 60% of health center patients are insured through Medicaid, making serious cuts to the program direct threats to these centers and their ability to provide care.
Another aspect of the bill stops Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. That funding represents $12 million of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England’s annual budget, according to the CT Mirror, which is about a quarter of the organization’s annual revenue. Of the 60,000 patients seen by PPSNE last year, 42% were insured by Medicaid.
The Connecticut Department of Insurance expects the changes enacted by the bill to result in as many as 137,000 people in 100,000 households losing financial support for health care by 2034.
