CONNECTICUT: The Insurance and Real Estate Committee voted to amend the "Sustinet Plan" legislation to a study bill

CONNECTICUT Health Insurance : The Insurance and Real Estate Committee voted to amend the "Sustinet Plan" legislation to a study bill. The proposal did include several positive measures to reduce costs, improve quality and help more people gain access to health insurance, but it also would have created a massive, government-run health care plan. The study amendment is oddly contradictory as it treats the government takeover as an enacted proposal, mandating its implementation even before a study is to take place. Health plans and their business partners are urging lawmakers to actually study the issue before making final decisions. In a positive development, the Insurance Committee voted to defeat the long-term disability bill that would have allowed employees on disability to collect both their private insurance benefits and Social Security disability payments. Neither long-term disability insurance nor Social Security Disability Insurance are intended to provide employees with more compensation while on disability than they would have received while at work, which is why every state currently allows the offset. Aetna worked with its plan sponsors and industry partners to raise awareness and increase understanding of the bill's unintended consequences.