HUSKY is a central component of Connecticut’s health care infrastructure and the foundation upon which health care reform is built.
The HUSKY Health Program (Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program) provides free or low cost health care coverage for over 300,000 children and almost 164,000 parents and pregnant women. In addition, about 240,000 Connecticut adults – seniors, low-income individuals, or disabled persons — also rely on HUSKY for all or a portion of their health care coverage. In total, about one in five residents of the state relies on HUSKY for health coverage.
To maintain and improve health insurance coverage for Connecticut’s children and families, state policymakers should:
- Maintain current coverage and benefit levels. It is vital that Connecticut does not undermine or dismantle its financing infrastructure during these difficult economic times.
- Ensure that the proposed Health Innovation Test Grant Model, aimed at reforming the overall health care delivery system in Connecticut, supports access to timely and quality health care for children and families in HUSKY.
- Ensure that all eligible young adults who were enrolled in HUSKY A when they aged out of foster care maintain their eligibility until age 26, as required by the Affordable Care Act.
- Ensure that the Department of Social Services has the staff expertise and resources to implement its many health reform initiatives that affect families in HUSKY and Medicaid, including the upgrading of its computerized eligibility system.
- Ensure funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) continues until 2019. Federal CHIP funding runs out on September 30, 2015, unless Congress extends the funding.
- Strengthen the network of providers who participate in HUSKY.
- Ensure that sufficient resources are provided for timely data collection and independent evaluation of how well the HUSKY Program is serving children and families.
