“Gov. Lamont’s Budget is Devastating to Hospitals and Healthcare”
WALLINGFORD – Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) CEO Jennifer Jackson released the following statement in response to Governor Ned Lamont’s Fiscal Year 2026/2027 biennial state budget proposal presented to the General Assembly today:
“Governor Lamont’s budget proposal contains policies that are devastating to hospitals, their workforce, and their patients. These proposals will add significant financial burdens on local hospitals at a time when they are already struggling, making it more difficult for hospitals to meet their mission of caring for communities, improving quality, growing and supporting the healthcare workforce, and investing in innovation to advance care. The Governor’s budget increases the taxes paid by hospitals, reduces their reimbursements for providing care, and hurts patients, while doing nothing to address the $1.4 billion annual Medicaid shortfall, increase access, or define a long-term vision for healthcare. We ask Governor Lamont to reconsider these proposals and work with us to build a budget that protects patients, supports care delivery and the healthcare workforce, and plans for Connecticut’s future.”
Background:
- Governor Lamont’s proposed budget would drastically reduce hospital payments and increase the burden of the state’s hospital tax – the combined effect would financially devastate hospitals and jeopardize care
- The Governor’s budget generates more than $150 million in federal funding by further taxing and reducing payments to hospitals, while doing nothing to solve Medicaid’s chronic underpayment and also further weakening hospitals’ financial stability
- This comes at a time when Connecticut hospitals continue to face extraordinary financial pressures that exceed the nation and the region as our healthcare providers across the state work to recover from the lasting effects of the global pandemic and years of historic inflation
- Hospitals already pay more than $800 million in taxes to the state each year and are absorbing $1.4 billion in Medicaid losses and $1.3 billion in Medicare losses. The Governor’s proposals would add millions in additional taxes while reducing millions more in payments to hospitals all while operating expenses are increasing rapidly; a billion dollars in one year between 2022 and 2023
