WEEKLY UPDATE: 02/12/26
Throughout the first week of the 2026 Legislative Session, the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) continued to elevate serious concerns about the harmful hospital tax provision in Governor Ned Lamont’s fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget adjustment proposal.
Under Governor Lamont’s budget proposal, hospitals would pay $100 million more in taxes next fiscal year, bringing their total tax burden to $920 million in FY 2027. Most of that money would be diverted to the state’s General Fund, rather than reinvested in hospitals to support patient care. This comes at the same time hospitals are facing enormous financial strain, worsened by rising operating costs and $1.5 billion in losses every year because Medicaid pays far less than what it costs hospitals to care for patients.
Connecticut families depend on hospitals for lifesaving care, compassionate doctors and nurses, and timely treatment when it matters most. Forcing hospitals to shoulder additional financial burdens — while failing to make meaningful investments in patient care — weakens hospitals’ ability to maintain essential services, support their workforce, and meet the needs of their communities.
Visit the links below for recent local news coverage of CHA’s position:
- CT hospitals push back on Lamont’s provider tax plan citing growing financial stress (CT Insider)
- Lamont Budget Adjustments Draw Criticism From School And Hospital Groups, Among Others (CTNewsJunkie)
- Lamont: Disband OHS, cut hospital taxes, design public option (CT Mirror)
- CT hospitals ‘concerned’ about proposed hospital tax in Lamont budget (Westfair Business Journal)
Click here or visit protectctcare.org for more information on the governor’s proposed tax increase on hospitals.
Disbanding the Office of Health Strategy
In testimony submitted to the Appropriations Committee regarding HB 5032, An Act Adjusting The State Budget For The Biennium Ending June 30, 2027, CHA expressed support for the governor’s proposal to dissolve the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) and reallocate its duties to various agencies. Specifically, the governor’s budget outlines that the certificate of need (CON) program will fall under Department of Public Health (DPH) purview; the healthcare cost growth benchmark, All-Payer Claims Database (APCD), Connie, and IT-related projects intersecting with rural health initiatives will fall under the Office of Policy and Management (OPM); and other ancillary functions of OHS will be redistributed amongst other agencies.
CHA believes this is an opportunity to streamline areas that are working well, reduce bureaucracies where unnecessary, and reevaluate the effectiveness of some programs as they are currently operating — including the burden of costs to hospitals in comparison to their overall involvement in the certificate of need (CON) process. However, hospitals have concerns about how the state intends to fund operations of the statewide Health Information Exchange, Connie. CHA encourages the state to ensure there is adequate funding for Connie that does not require mandated users to pay fees.
Click here to read CHA’s testimony.
