Doctors say a proposal could close hospitals across CT. ‘This is a disaster’, a lawmaker says

Hartford Courant – Thursday, May 8, 2025
By Christopher Keating

Medical costs are already too high, and they are getting worse.

Patients have been telling that story for decades, and it is an issue again at the state Capitol.

Doctors and hospital officials arrived in Hartford to decry a controversial bill by Gov. Ned Lamont that would cap payments for out-of-network providers, prompting opponents to say that the money would go to the insurance companies.

Sen. M. Saud Anwar, a South Windsor medical doctor who also serves in the state legislature, said the bill will “severely damage” health care in the state at a time when three community hospitals have declared bankruptcy and others are operating on tight margins.

“If this bill passes, this is going to result in the closure of hospitals and many [medical] practices will be no longer there,” Anwar told reporters at a news conference. “This is a disaster. … I just want to make sure that it is very clear that every hospital, every physician — the people who actually never stand together at times — are very united on these issues.”

Dr. Dan Freess, an emergency room doctor in Hartford who is the past president of the Connecticut College of Emergency Physicians, said the bill “risks emergency departments closing across the state.”

The problem, doctors said, is that the measure would cap the out-of-network medical payments at 240% of the Medicare rate for inpatient and outpatient services at hospitals.

“This is a bold attempt by the government to insert itself in rate negotiations in favor of one side — insurers that count profits in the billions,” said a flier distributed by the Connecticut Hospital Association, one of the key lobbying groups at the Capitol. “At a time when hospitals are already struggling, this would jeopardize the ability to provide high-quality care. This truly is not a patient-focused policy. It is an insurer-focused policy.”

Collectively, hospitals could lose more than $700 million in revenue each year if the bill passes, the hospitals said.

Earlier in the session, the bill narrowly passed the legislature’s insurance committee by 7-6 and still requires approval by the state House of Representatives and Senate before the regular legislative session adjourns on June 4.

Lamont’s view

Lamont had a different view, saying he is simply trying to bring down costs for patients.

“You go in for an operation, and all of a sudden you find out the anesthesiologist is not in network, and you get this surprise bill and it costs you thousands of dollars,” Lamont said when asked Wednesday by The Courant at the Capitol. “I think it’s pro-consumer. I don’t quite know why the hospitals seem to oppose everything, including that. I think it’s a way to make sure that you, as a patient, have a little more control over the cost of these things. I hope the legislature stands up, but the hospitals are pretty impactful in this building.”

At the earlier press conference, the doctors said they had not yet spoken to Lamont about the legislation.

“I talk to a lot of the hospital CEOs. Let’s put it that way,” Lamont said. “I know their feeling. I think the doctors flood the legislators with telephone calls, and that has an impact. I’m trying to bring down the overall cost of health care. I thought this was one reasonable way that we could do that.”

After estimating that 90% of medical costs are related to hospitalizations and prescription drugs, Lamont said he is trying to take action.

“I’ve got a bill that would bring down some of the costs of hospitalization, and I’ve got a bill that would bring down the costs of pharma,” Lamont said, referring to prescription drugs. “Whether I can weave it through this building or not is another question. … I’m happy to compromise. I’m happy to sit down. Happy to try and make that go. But lobbyists are very impactful in this building.”

Lamont’s health commissioner, Dr. Manisha Juthani, testified earlier that the bill was necessary because “there are currently no price controls for out-of-network services” in Connecticut.

The bill, and others, “give Connecticut the power to directly control and impact health care spending,” she said in written testimony. “Where there is no control, there is no ceiling. Without limits, we are doing nothing to protect Connecticut residents from additional barriers to health care, where we know there are already disproportionate impacts on certain populations, based on race/ethnicity, geographic location, language, and more. Let’s not continue to add to this burden and do something now.”

The state’s public health commissioner, Dr. Manisha Juthani, says that out-of-network medical payments should be capped. She is shown here in Waterbury with Gov. Ned Lamont and state attorney general William Tong.

Christopher Keating

The state’s public health commissioner, Dr. Manisha Juthani, says that out-of-network medical payments should be capped. She is shown here in Waterbury with Gov. Ned Lamont and state attorney general William Tong.

Sen. Jeff Gordon, a Republican senator from Woodstock who also works as a doctor, joined Anwar at the news conference as bipartisan doctors in the state Senate.

“It is extremely important in these days when things are very difficult in health care in Connecticut. We should not be doing things to make anything worse,” Gordon said. “We should actually be doing things to make things better.”

House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford and Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria of Seymour, the ranking member of the public health committee, both attended the news conference to show their support for the doctors.

“No one likes to pay more than they have to, especially for health care,” Klarides-Ditria said. “That means insurance is necessary for all, but unfortunately, not affordable for all. No matter how much you plan, it’s still very expensive. … It’s also easy to blame. Who? The hospitals, the insurance companies, the doctors for the high costs. … Unfortunately, I don’t believe this proposal will provide savings the authors intended.”

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