Plenty of blame for Connecticut health insurance hikes

In the end, the insurance rate increases approved by the state Insurance Department were not as high as had been feared. They will still take a toll on struggling families, and for all their gnashing of teeth on the issue, legislators will have to do better to keep the issue from recurring.

Everyone is acquainted with the problems inflation has been causing this year. While gas prices get a larger share of the attention than they deserve (and have, in fact, been declining most of the summer), it's the big-ticket items where inflation hits hardest. That includes housing, transportation and health care, which has been a particularly fraught issue in the state in recent legislative sessions.

In July, state insurers put out word they were asking for an average increase of 20.4 percent on individual plans offered on the state exchange next year. Politicians, predictably, cried foul, with members of both parties pledging to put the companies on the spot for what were deemed outrageous requests.

After a sometimes-contentious public hearing, the final approved increases were lower than had been sought, averaging a 12.9 percent increase. That's still a big jump, and one that people across the state will not help but notice.

Again predictably, each party blamed the other. But only one party has complete control of the legislative apparatus in Hartford.

Republicans can call news conferences, they can raise an issue, they can filibuster and they can put up roadblocks, but they can't, for now, pass laws on their own. Democrats have strong majorities in both houses of the General Assembly and control the governor's office. They have internal disagreements, but it's Democrats who control nearly every level of power in state government. If something isn't working, it's up to them to fix it.

The debate over insurance hikes, however, had some top Democrats blaming Republicans for a failure to pass meaningful reforms. This doesn't make sense.

The biggest insurance reform Democrats had sought was the enactment of a public health insurance option that would have competed against private carriers and, according to projections, helped keep prices lower. That plan was scuttled not by Republicans, but by Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont.

Lamont surely had his reasons. The threat of major insurance companies to decamp for other locations if Connecticut passed a public option was not a threat to be taken lightly. Despite reduced numbers, they still employ thousands of people in Connecticut. Not only would it have been harmful to Lamont's political aspirations, it would have had serious economic ramifications.

Still, it should be clear where reform went to die. It wasn't because of Republicans.

Faced with this political reality, Democrats will have to do better in coming years. If voters reward Republicans with a measure of political power after this year's elections in November, it will be up to that party to deliver meaningful reforms. Whoever wins will be expected to bring results.

What won't work is continued blame. State government has wide leeway to enact real reforms in terms of medical insurance, and if a public option isn't a realistic goal, then something else needs to take its place.