Without action, 13,000 may lose health coverage

By NOREEN GILLESPIE
Associated Press Writer

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Cynthia Costa is trying not to think about her own health right now. She's got too many other things on her mind.

Mostly, it's fear.

Doctors tell her that she needs gynecological surgery, but she's postponed it. She's uninsured, and knows her family can't afford it. And what if doctors were to find something serious? She's the one that has to take care of her two children and disabled husband.

"He's the one who says we'll find a way to pay the bills," she said. "But I'm the worrier. I worry all the time."

Costa was dropped from the state's Husky A Medicaid program in December, when her husband, who cannot work, saw an increase in his Social Security payment. Though she earns just $120 a week from her part-time job in a newspaper office, the state said she made too much.

Health care advocates are worried that as many as 13,000 low-income parents will join her in April, when temporary health insurance expires for people dropped from the state's health care program in 2003.

Parents were disqualified from the program when the General Assembly redefined eligibility requirements while dealing with a budget deficit. The move prompted a lawsuit, and the parents have had temporary coverage for 24 months.

"These are parents of families who have played by the rules. They have gone to work, many of them. They have earned income to make their family better. And at the end of March, they're going to be off Medicaid," said Shelley White, litigation director for the New Haven Legal Assistance Association, which represented the plaintiffs.

Advocates say health insurance premiums are too costly for the parents, or insurance isn't being offered by employers. Sharon Langer, an attorney with Connecticut Legal Services, said losing insurance will shift unbearable costs to families.

"If they're going to pay hundreds of dollars for medicines, then they're not going to have money for rent, utilities," she said.

An analysis by the Connecticut Health Foundation estimates that the cost of covering the parents for the rest of this fiscal year would be $7 million, and the federal government would pick up half. The total annual cost to the state would be about $15 million, said Robert Genuario, the governor's budget chief.

The Department of Social Services has asked families to send them information about any changes in family size or income to confirm that it would be about 13,000 who are eligible.

When the General Assembly rewrote the eligibility requirements, lawmakers changed the income level. Previously, families of three at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, or $23,507, qualified. Lawmakers reduced it to 100 percent, or $15,671.

Tuesday, the Human Services Committee unanimously voted on legislation to bring the eligibility level back up to at or below 150 percent. The bill next goes to the budget-writing committee for debate.

"It's the right thing to do. We really don't want to cut anybody off," said Sen. Mary Ann Handley, D-Manchester, co-chairwoman of Human Services.

Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, has proposed taking money from the state's projected surplus for this fiscal year to cover the cost of insuring the parents.

"We can solve it immediately with the use of surplus funds, or we can try and rush legislation and if we need to do that, that's something we will address," Williams said.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell is expected to present her budget to the legislature Feb. 9, and she said it will contain "tough choices." While there is a surplus for the current fiscal year, the state is facing a projected deficit of up to $1.3 billion in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

"We're working on the final decisions in the budget. We're still fine-tuning our last numbers," Genuario said.

While advocates are pushing for Husky benefits to be restored, they also plan to ask the legislature this session to expand them. Handley said lawmakers will likely consider bills that would raise the income limit to 185 percent of the federal poverty level, to align it with limits offered to insurance programs for children.

That's what people like Costa are hoping for. It would give her coverage again. Now, she's even questioned quitting her job, because then she would be eligible for health insurance.

Diann Pertillar, an advocate at Community Health Center in Middletown who helps Costa and others navigate through the state's insurance programs, said that's a common question.

"We have a lot of people that work two part-time jobs to try to survive, and once they do ... they cannot even afford at that time to pay for medical, so their question becomes, should I quit one of my jobs?"

But Costa said she doesn't want to quit. The little bit she makes helps out a lot.

"You feel like everyone looks at you and says, 'Oh my god, what a loser she is. She's on the state insurance. She can't work a lot of hours,'" Costa said. She added, "Never did I think I'd be in this position."

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