ICYMI: Gov. Ned Lamont Praised for Increasing Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care

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In case you missed it, Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont was praised in a Hartford Courant op-ed for his hard work to advance access to affordable, quality health care. The op-ed, written by Joanna Dornfeld, the senior director of state affairs for United States of Care, called the state’s work on Medicaid expansion and on the future of the Connecticut Option a “model for the entire country.”
Read excerpts from the op-ed below:
The Hartford Courant – op-ed: The legislature made good steps in health care this year. What’s next?
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis ruled in a 1932 decision that a “state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” This spring, Connecticut leaders stepped up to be a model for the entire country through their efforts to make quality health care more accessible and affordable.
The Connecticut Option, an innovative compromise negotiated by state leaders, represents a new type of public-private partnership that would offer Connecticut residents a lower-cost health plan starting in 2022. 
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Although the Connecticut Option did not pass this session, this framework should be commended as a breakthrough in creative health policy solutions. Further, Gov. Lamont, Comptroller Lembo and legislative leaders have all pledged to continue their work over the interim and return to this hard-fought compromise next year.
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Another policy worth celebrating is the expansion of Connecticut’s Medicaid Program, HUSKY Health, to an additional 4,000 adults. This expansion means that these parents now have access to comprehensive health care, including preventive care, primary care and specialist visits, hospital care, behavioral health services, dental services, and prescription medications.