Expanding HUSKY Coverage for Parents Will Help Working Parents and Children Access Health Care

Providing HUSKY coverage to more low-income working parents is an important step toward decreasing the number of uninsured adults and children in Connecticut. In Connecticut, 61% of the uninsured are working adults, over half of whom hold permanent full-time jobs. Uninsured parents are more likely to delay care until illnesses become serious, resulting in the need for more costly care, such as hospitalizations or emergency room use. Increasing the income limits for parents and aligning them with the income limits for children in HUSKY A (185% of the federal poverty level) would help make the HUSKY program easier to understand and to administer, and enable the state to reduce the number of uninsured working parents.