Connecticut short on Medicaid funding

HARTFORD -- Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday morning declared "extraordinary circumstances" with Connecticut's federally supported Medicaid health insurance program for 900,000 elderly, disabled and low-income kids, allowing majorities of the state Senate and House of Representatives to fund an extra $284 million for the budget year that ends June 30.

Republicans said that the legislation wasn't needed and warned that it ignored the 2017 bipartisan deal to create financial guidelines that have helped the state pay down debt and lower taxes.

By mid-afternoon, the House approved the legislation, which would allow the General Assembly to exceed the statutory spending cap. A few hours later, the Senate concurred with the legislation, in the multi-part bill. It includes changes to the state's Workers Compensation program that were to deal with a recent decision by the state Supreme Court that could potentially send the costs of medical specialists soaring by more than 250 percent.

Another section of the bill would allow parents of unmarried state workers killed on the job to get their child's death benefits.

That section of the bill was inspired by the death of Andrew DiDomenico of Meriden, a state Department of Transportation employee killed last year by an allegedly impaired driver along Interstate 91.

"Look, the costs of Medicaid are going through the roof," Lamont told reporters after a morning event honoring World War II veterans in the William A. O'Neill State Armory.

"It's happening in 49 others states. We're been warning about it here in Connecticut for some time now and we had to solve that and I wanted to solve it in a way that did not jeopardize the spending cap (in 2026 and 2027) and beyond. It's about $25 million over the spending cap, solves the Medicaid."

"This is a moving target," said state Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven, the veteran co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, explaining that the Medicaid picture may change further as a budget that takes effect in October slowly emerges in the U.S. Congress "We will be shoring this up toward the end of June. We can't be exact because of an emergency happens, if, god forbid, any of the Medicaid or other funding gets dropped."

Walker said that $90 million of the Medicaid deficiency was in pharmacy benefits.

State Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, D-West Hartford, co-chairwoman of the Human Services Committee said that about $32 million of the $284 million is for health care for undocumented immigrants, including $26 million for children and $6 million for postpartum care.

Seventy five million dollars of the $284 million is for home health care, Gilchrest said.

Republicans blamed what is called the deficiency in the Medicaid account on the failure of the state Democrats to address the issue last year when they could have adjusted the second year of the biennial spending package.

House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora said that Medicaid coverage for undocumented aliens was the cause, calling their health benefits "Cadillac" quality.

Candelora said that GOP lawmakers last year called for the adjustments. "We are not in crisis, not because of President Trump, not because of the federal government but because of the inactions of the governor and the Democrat majority over the past year," Candelora said, calling the Medicaid bill a planned way to exceed the spending cap.

Overall, the legislation included a $466 million increase in appropriations to cover a variety of budgetary deficiencies in the waning weeks of the legislative session.

Democrats have a 102-49 advantage in the House and a 25-11 edge in the Senate. The vote required super-majority three-fifths votes, which is 91 in the House of Representatives and 22 in the Senate. The House began its debate at 11:50 a.m. and the bill passed along party lines, 98-46, at 3:10 p.m.

Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said that Medicaid funding is down by about $300 million. "It will give us some operating surplus to carry forward (to fiscal year 2026, which starts July 1)."

The House began its debate at about 1:25 p.m. By 2:10, state Rep. Tammy Nuccio of Tolland, a ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee, echoed Candelora's complaint that the deficiency should have been addressed last year.

She said that the Workers Compensation portions of the overall legislation will not effect the last six weeks of the fiscal year.

"We are blowing through the spending cap," said Rep. Joe Polletta of Watertown.

"This emergency declaration will set the stage for spending increasing in the state of Connecticut. If you are serious about Connecticut's fiscal health and serious about keeping the fiscal guardrails in place, which most of us ran for election for, you'll vote against this bill."

The Senate started its discussion at 3:45 p.m. Sen. Heather Somers, a Republican from Groton and a ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, said the overall legislation would allow an additional $250 million in spending for the budget cycle that starts July 1.

"Is this an emergency?" Sen. Ryan Fazio, a Republican from Greenwich and a ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, asked.

"We've known about the potential deficiencies in this Medicaid program for many, many months, well in excess of a year. Only two and a half weeks before the end of this legislative session are we dealing with it. We're waiting until the very end of the two-year budget cycle ... That's a failure of leadership."

A Republican amendment in the Senate failed 24-10. At about 5:30 p.m., the final vote was a partisan 24-10. Lamont is expected to sign it.

Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, warned that ignoring the spending cap will be the first step toward higher taxes for Connecticut residents. "We do understand the importance of Medicaid, and we do want all constituents in our state who are eligible to receive that care and that benefit," he said.

"What we don't support is doing it in a manner that violates the spending cap. It's an insult to our constituents. It's inevitable that tax increases are coming our way."

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, praised Lamont for realizing the need to fund the Medicaid deficiency at a time when payments are scheduled to go to providers later this week.

"We know that there's a national problem in Medicaid, that more and more people are relying upon Medicaid," Looney said, stressing the inevitability of major federal funding cutbacks in the problem on their way with the budget under consideration in Washington. "We'll probably have to deal with that in the fall," said Looney.

"Thirty-seven-point-five percent of Connecticut children depend on Medicaid for health coverage," Duff said. "These are seniors and folks who are poor and children who literally rely on checks going out in the mail to pay for services. It's essential to who we are as a state."

Staff writer Alex Putterman contributed to this report.