Co-Chairs Nancy Wyman Comptroller   Kevin Lembo Healthcare Advocate		Phone: 866.466.4446    Facsimile: 860.297.3992   Email: SustiNet@ct.gov
	Post Office Box 1543 Hartford, CT 06144-1543 www.ct.gov/sustinet
SustiNet Health Partnership Board of Directors Releases 60-Day Report to the General Assembly
For Immediate Release May 27, 2010		Additional Information 860.297.3982

 

 

 

 

Today, State Comptroller Nancy Wyman and Healthcare Advocate Kevin Lembo, on behalf of the Sustinet Health Partnership Board of Directors released their 60-day report to the General Assembly detailing preliminary recommendations for the implementation of the SustiNet plan in light of the passage of federal reform.  The report finds that Connecticut’s reform efforts have placed the state in an excellent position to take advantage of new federal resources offered by the health reform law President Obama signed earlier this year. 

The analysis details the effect of national health reform on the state’s 2009 legislation, which sought to guarantee coverage to all Connecticut residents while slowing the current unsustainable growth in health care costs and improving health care quality. The report concludes that, though minor adjustments may be needed, implementing the SustiNet law will be easier and less costly due to the passage of the federal legislation.

The report also identifies questions that will need to be answered to ensure that the SustiNet proposal will ultimately correspond with federal reform.  Fortunately, both pieces of legislation share many common elements.

More than 160 Connecticut volunteer experts from a vast variety of disciplines are working intensively with the SustiNet Board to develop detailed plans for moving forward with the proposal.  Physicians, nurses, health centers and clinics, hospitals, insurance agents, state agency staff, unions, consumers, academics, employers, community groups, clergy, university and college officials, information technology experts, insurers, dentists, pharmacists, foundations, advocacy groups, legal services health care specialists, public health experts, municipal officials, actuaries, and other Connecticut residents have come together in this effort. The work of these task forces and advisory committees will assist the Board in issuing a year-end report to the Legislature. 

By July 1, SustiNet’s volunteer committees and task forces are scheduled to provide the SustiNet Board with recommendations for how SustiNet should address health information technology; care coordination; incentives for evidence-based, high-quality care;  disease prevention and wellness; the elimination or reduction of ethnic and racial disparities; obesity; tobacco use; and strengthening the health care workforce to meet the increased demands for services that will result from a substantial increase in health coverage. 

By the end of 2010, the Board will issue a final report making detailed recommendations for implementing SustiNet during the 2011 legislative session.

 

A copy of the report can be found HERE (PDF 136 KB).

 

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