Lower premiums, lower deductibles, lower drug costs: all things our state lawmakers have pledged to voters many times over the years. But affordable health insurance seems to be elusive in our state, especially when it comes to small business owners.
But why is this? Joining NBC Connecticut's Mike Hydeck to talk about the efforts to possibly change that is Rep. Tom Delnicki from South Windsor, who is on the Real Estate Insurance Committee.
Tom Delnicki: I've got to tell you, this is not something new. And I want to go back 15 years or so ago, when I was on the South Windsor Town Council, and we actually became self-insured for health care for the Board of Ed, and for the town council. And my hope is, we can do something like that here with this bill. So that folks can actually afford the insurance. Now, it's amazing. The single individual premiums approved for 2023 went up, I think it's like 13%. And I want to say the small group went up about 8%. Inflation was 3.4%. So somebody's making some good money somewhere. And I'd hate to call companies out, but I have this this little card I walk around (with) if people want to start talking about it. Elevance: $6 billion gross profit last year. CVS: $8 billion gross profit. Cigna: $5.2 billion gross. United: $3.3 gross. So somebody's making money somewhere. We've got folks that want to give their employees, as a benefit to retain them, health insurance. And we've had the brewers come to us before ...
Mike Hydeck: Like the microbrews?
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Tom Delnicki: Exactly. Because believe it or not, they have a guild. So what this bill would allow, would be common interest organizations like the nonprofits. Nonprofits have such a tough time getting insurance for the folks that work for them.
Mike Hydeck: And you know how much work the nonprofits do for the state. And they help us on so many (things), whether it's drug addiction, housing, so many other things. So having health insurance will help.
Tom Delnicki: Exactly, because a lot of times, the nonprofits, they lose people, good people, to other organizations, and to other jobs. And they lose them because they can't provide some of the benefits that the folks need, so that they can live a decent life and they can actually have a sense of security.
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Mike Hydeck: So this might not be apples to apples, but explain it to me if it's not. So years ago, Kevin Lembo, when he was state comptroller, was pushing single-payer very hard. And at one point, the insurance companies wrote a letter to Gov. Lamont and say, 'Look, you pull this off, we're out of here, we're gonna leave.' Are they weighing heavily on these decisions? Is that why we get the roadblock year after year on trying to get affordable health insurance?
Tom Delnicki: Well, I want to say this year is a little bit different than that. Because what Kevin Lembo was trying to do was actually get everybody off, and to take them all in. This would be a group by group type deal. You'd have to have $4 million dollars in assets to be able to start the company. You'd have to have a stop-loss to start the company. There would be requirements, requirements that ensure that there would be stability in an organization, a company like that to provide that benefit.
Mike Hydeck: So, what you're saying is the insurance companies wouldn't stand to lose that many customers under this model, which means maybe they'll be a little bit more amenable, do you think?
Tom Delnicki: And maybe, just maybe, they'll be a little bit more competitive and not ask for such high rate increases and come down and kind of say, 'Well, you know, we really don't need to make $6 billion this year.' You know, maybe three or four would be okay. The point being, it's not a stick, all right. It is a carrot. It is an opportunity for organizations to band together and be able to provide their folks insurance at a reasonable cost. Would it cause a catastrophe to the insurance industry? No, I don't think it would.
Mike Hydeck: Wouldn't it just add people to their rolls? I'm guessing.
Tom Delnicki: I would think that conceivably, there would be more people with health insurance, because there's a lot of folks that go around without it. And they run into a catastrophic situation and what are they going to do? And that's the opportunity we have, because the exchange, the prices are pretty darn high. Individual plans, the prices are pretty darn high. Same thing when it comes to small-size plans for some small businesses and even with larger businesses. And we've seen those increases year after year above the rate of inflation.
Mike Hydeck: So, I've got about 10 seconds. What are the chances this (bill) moves beyond this?
Tom Delnicki: I've got my fingers crossed. This is something whose time has come. And it's something that we need to do. And I'm going to do everything in my power to be there supporting it. And I want to say one other thing, we have Democratic and Republican House and Senate co-sponsors that are on that bill that see it as an opportunity to do something good to help these folks and to keep businesses afloat in Connecticut.
Mike Hydeck: Hopefully. We got to leave it there. It's a pleasure to have you on Face the Facts. We appreciate it.
