Governor vetoes SustiNet and Partnership bills

Late today Governor Rell vetoed both the SustiNet bill, which would have created a board to develop a plan to cover CT’s uninsured , and the Health Care Partnership bill, which would have self-insured the state employee plan and allowed municipalities, small businesses and non-profits the option to buy into the plan. The Governor estimates that the bills would have significant costs to the state, although she did not consider the costs of doing nothing and did not incorporate any estimates of probable federal funding in her estimates. She was concerned that the SustiNet board did not include representatives from the insurance industry, hospitals and business. In an accompanying Executive Order she creates a 15 member Health Care Reform Advisory Board to make recomendations in response to federal reforms. The majority of members are to be appointed by the Governor or her commissioners; she includes no consumer representation. The bills now go back to the General Assembly for a potential override.
Ellen Andrews