January 30, 2012

SPEAKER’S SMALL-BUSINESS GROUP GIVES RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR REDUCING HEALTH-CARE COSTS

House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan (D-Meriden) and Rep. Robert Megna (D-New Haven), hailed the recommendations of a group of business owners and lawmakers Monday aimed at reducing health-care costs for small businesses.

Speaker Donovan asked the business owners and legislators of his Working Group on Small Business Health Care last fall to examine obstacles and opportunities for small business seeking to purchase health insurance coverage for their employees and families. The group was led by Representative Megna, the House chair of the legislature’s Insurance Committee.

“I heard from small businesses across Connecticut that health-care costs are too high,” Donovan said. “I launched this working group to recommend changes to existing law and new legislation to give small-business owners health-care coverage options.”

Donovan said that as health-care costs have grown, small businesses have had to drop and cut coverage or sacrifice job growth. “Some can’t attract and retain talented employees because quality health insurance is unaffordable. It is important that we listen to the proposals offered today and take steps to make health insurance for small businesses affordable, comparable, available, accessible and meaningful,” he said.

“I am pleased that we were able to bring employers together to examine the barriers to affordable health coverage and provide some solutions,” Megna said. “This set of recommendations will make the market work for small businesses as well as it does for large groups – providing a quality product at a lower premium.”

The group met Monday and approved the following recommendations:

• Permit small businesses, including businesses of one, to purchase employee health care coverage through the state employee health plan
• Stimulate greater competition within the individual and small group markets on and off  the exchange by promoting non-profit health insurance options that add value, such as a publicly administered health insurance plan and the Co-Op, an option available under health reform
• Improve transparency in health care costs by promoting initiatives that help employers and consumers compare coverage and costs and promote strategies that better manage health
• Implement “pure” community rating in the small group market so that a small business’ premiums can no longer be adjusted based on the age, gender or similar demographics of the group
• Require insurance carriers to rate and offer a policy to association groups
• Require carriers to report the actuarial value of plans to the purchaser of the plan
• Strongly consider merging the individual and small group markets inside and outside the exchange
• Consider offering a Basic Health Program for low income individuals in order to lower costs for small businesses in the exchange

“These recommendations will help small employers leverage buying power, stimulate competition and value, and remove a major hurdle to job growth at a time when we are looking to small businesses to lead our economic recovery,” Megna said.

“I want to thank the small business owners who contributed to this work. I also want to thank Chairman Bob Megna for leading the group to this important set of recommendations,” Donovan said.