Connecticut lawmakers ponder possible life after ACA
While awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Connecticut’s Governor and health officials are mulling how to proceed should the ACA be ruled unconstitutional. It’s only natural that there's some political debate ensuing.
As the Supreme Court hearings were winding down, Jeannette DeJesús, the governor's special adviser on health reform, said that, should the justices spike the individual mandate, Connecticut would potentially institute its own variation, much like that of its neighbor, Massachusetts. Governor Dannel Malloy quickly clarified that there are no immediate plans for such an individual mandate in Connecticut, but that “everything is on the table.”
[Also: SCOTUS wraps healthcare law hearings]
That could include repealing the law entirely in Connecticut if the Supreme Court upholds it. Indeed, Republican senate candidates Linda McMahon and former Rep. Chris Shays are campaigning on that notion as they pursue the seat to be vacated by Sen. Joe Lieberman when he retires. Shays has referred to the ACA as “fatally flawed.”
In the meantime, Connecticut is moving forward with a state health insurance exchange, but officials are not naïve about the impact the Supreme Court striking down the ACA might have on Connecticut’s project.
Advancements “would be much more incremental," DeJesus told the Connecticut Mirror. "But (the ACA) provided a road map."
Even with the state-level health reform advancements, smaller physician groups' adoption of electronic health records has been slow, said Edward Rippel, MD, of Quinnipiac Internal Medicine, in Hamden, Conn., the state’s first solo provider to be recognized by NCQA as a Patient Centered Medical Home.
"Despite the fact that there are incentives out there, there’s still inertia among the docs for whatever reason," said Rippel. That said, he added that physicians are reading about and trying to understand health reform, accountable care organizations and health IT in general, but “the biggest issue for a lot of people is the cost.”
Trailing only Alaska, Massachusetts and the District of Colombia, Connecticut spends among the most per capita on healthcare. That’s according to data published in late 2011 by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – while the Commonwealth Fund's latest scorecard ranked Connecticut 8th.
Connecticut spends $8,654 annually per capita, according to CMS. Washington, D.C. ranks first at $10,349, followed by Massachusetts’ $9,278 and Alaska’s $9,128.
