Senate approves health coverage for 13,000

By SUSAN HAIGH
Associated Press Writer

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A bill that would keep 13,000 poor parents on state health insurance until the next budget year begins in July was sent Wednesday to Gov. M. Jodi Rell's desk, where it awaits an uncertain fate.

The parents' insurance under Connecticut's HUSKY A program was set to expire on April 1.

The bill, which passed the Senate 28-8, would allow the insurance to be extended until July 1, while lawmakers debate funding the coverage over the next two fiscal years. The House of Representatives passed the legislation last week.

"It's the moral obligation of government to take care of the sick and poor," said Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia.

The legislation uses $7.5 million from a budget surplus estimated at between $333 and $369 million for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Hours after the bill passed the Democrat-controlled Senate, as expected, the Republican governor's staff could not say whether she would sign the bill.

"It's not in her hands yet. ... She wants to read the language," said Rell's spokesman, Dennis Schain. He said the governor will likely announce her decision on Thursday.

Republican senators who opposed the bill said Wednesday that it was fiscally irresponsible because the state faces an estimated $1.2 billion budget deficit in the new fiscal year, according to Rell.

The HUSKY program was designed to ensure that poor children received medical care. But in 1999, state lawmakers began allowing parents to participate in the plan. To qualify, a family's income must be below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

A family of four is considered to be impoverished if the household earns $19,350 a year or less. At 150 percent of the poverty level they would be living on $29,025.

In 2003, the state legislature voted to end HUSKY coverage for adults to help cover a massive state budget deficit.

Connecticut Legal Services challenged the move in federal court. Last year, a federal appeals court ruled the parents were eligible for two years worth of transitional coverage. That is set to run out on April 1.

Rell has expressed concern that extending the benefit could lead to more legal challenges. The governor has also said she worries about how much money it would cost to continue the program indefinitely. Estimates of that cost range from $54 million to $72 million a year.

HUSKY has become a hot topic at the state Capitol since the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research recently reported that many employees of retail giant Wal-Mart, Stop & Shop supermarkets and Dunkin' Donuts are enrolled in the state plan.

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