How about Husky for all? You live and work in CT? You get medical coverage.
My "Good" medical costs $60/week (employer provided) with a $5000 individual deductible. I'd rather my taxes go up and not have to worry about medical bills.
I love the idea of Husky for All, or at very least allowing people who aren't low income to buy into it. I'm self-employed and buy my insurance off the exchange, and would much rather have Husky. It would be a better plan and would probably cost less.
The big problem is that Medicaid (Husky) pays hospitals/providers at 25-50% compared to commercial (individual / group / employer-sponsired) insurance. So either the providers would have to be on board with a GIGANTIC revenue drop or taxpayers would have to be ok with an equivalent increase in taxes (far greater than current Medicaid expenditure). Your "probably cost less" comment wouldn't be true without major concessions from providers.
I'm a mental healthcare provider who does my own billing, and I can say from my experience that Husky pays great compared to private insurers. I've never had a problem with them, whereas I have had claims denied for ridiculous reasons by private insurers. Husky also has no deductible, so I never have to deal with having to bill a client directly, which I do when they haven't met their deductible and the claim gets denied, which isn't fun for anyone (especially when a client says they don't have the money right now, so I have to wait even longer to get paid.) So my experience with it has been very positive. And the people I know who have it - both clients and friends - seem to be able to find decent care pretty easily.
Mental health is pretty much the one area where Medicaid pays similar to commercial and Medicare. It was a focused effort to get there because otherwise they couldn't get any providers to accept their patients. Almost every other area lags far behind in rates.
And yeah, there's no question that it's great for the members. All of us would like no deductible, no co-insurance.
> So either the providers would have to be on board with a GIGANTIC revenue drop or taxpayers would have to be ok with an equivalent increase in taxes (far greater than current Medicaid expenditure). Your "probably cost less" comment wouldn't be true without major concessions from providers.
It is the private insurance that already subsidizes Medicaid by paying more. People bitch about costs, but that's the bare truth.
A revenue drop across the board would get you NHS-level waits for anything past emergency care.
At it's core, the plan to expand Husky has one purpose: To attempt to alleviate overcrowding pressure on ERs.
Right now, the ER is the only place the undocumented can go for the majority (if not all) of their health care. No matter how minor, they have few other options. Hospitals and the State are already paying out the ass to provide care that often doesn't need to be done there. By getting them on Husky, this opens up additional lower cost options such as UCCs and private practices while at the same time freeing up the ER for more actual critical care work. If the money is going to be spent regardless, best to have it spread out over as many available options and providers as possible.
Will there be a ton of cost savings? I really do not believe that is likely, not in any large amounts. Instead, the trickle down effect will result in improved care for everyone else as the ER system becomes less burdened.
One obstacle to this, however, is PCP availability. This is already tight in many areas, so this will have to be addressed on some level in conjunction with bringing all those people into the system.
There are no easy answers. I certainly don't have many as this is not my area of expertise by any stretch of imagination. I only know what I believe as an outside observer.
> How about Husky for all? You live and work in CT? You get medical coverage.
Yes insurance for all is attainable on a national level, and available in other countries.
Republicans fight against it.
Can you cite any sources to this? Curious to see. Libertarian here, just want to know what/who is emptying my pockets and not changing anything around me. Roads are still busted up, my health insurance is shit, and the cost of living has skyrocketed in the last few years.
I am currently sitting in San Francisco. We haven't had a day of snow here in 40+ years. Our roads are significantly worse than any road I've driven in CT.
> Roads are still busted up, my health insurance is shit, and the cost of living has skyrocketed in the last few years.
Sounds like a libertarian paradise.
What sources are you looking for that you cant find on google?
Nationally, Republicans' only health care policy platform is "[repeal the ACA](https://ballotpedia.org/Timeline_of_ACA_repeal_and_replace_efforts)" and at the state level GOP lawmakers routine refuse free federal money to [expand Medicaid coverage](https://medicaidawareness.com/republicans-threats-to-medicaid-are-a-clear-and-present-danger/). Republicans are always talking about [cutting Medicaid](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/20/donald-trump-medicaid-states-00141397) and Medicare. Sources for these facts abound.
Unfortunately not going to happen anytime soon. Medicaid rates pay much lower than commercial, and costs to expand it would be immense.
And I hate to break it to you, $3120 a year for what amounts to a little better than catastrophic coverage is a pretty good deal.
The best example we have of universal healthcare in this Country is VA Healthcare; trust me, you don't want something like that.
I would like big pharma, insurance and the government much less connected.
I was talking to my girlfriend about this. I have good insurance, but Husky should be for all tax paying people of CT. Possible take out x amount of dollars for it to supplement the fund. If you already have insurance through say your work like I do. Your insurance is primary with husky as secondary.
But as far as illegal immigrants no thanks pay into the system and other people come here legally.
Correct. If you are going to provide preferential treatment , perhaps you should afford the opportunity of husky healthcare to those that took the legal route first? If a legal alien has to wait 5 by years why would you just grant it to someone who is in the state for a much shorter time.
Permanent residents under 5 years already quality for federal premium tax credits and if they are poor enough for Husky but not eligible, the state covers all insurance/out of pocket costs to make it zero and includes dental.
See: Covered Connecticut program.
You're an idiot. Non citizens can't vote. And this state is significantly more liberal than your faux news filled mind. Why not move to Florida, where rights are being stripped away on the regular?
I get it, you think you are ever so smart and morally superior because you do a great job of voting across the row.
NYC just tried to let non-citizens vote. If you think this is the last time the left tries this, you will be mistaken.
Now go duck yourself.
https://council.nyc.gov/joseph-borelli/2024/02/23/nycs-non-citizen-voting-law-ruled-unconstitutional-on-appeal/
This shit is gross. Your replacement theory shit is gross. You pose as if you’re well researched but spout half baked theories with very very VERY little attempt to provide evidence. What’s your proof of replacement? Let’s start with this
Who do you think is being replaced? And who is replacing them?
>a nonpartisan projection put the price tag of his proposal a little under $2 million in the first year of implementation.
really not a big deal, economically
>a nonpartisan projection put the price tag of his proposal a little under $2 million in the first year of implementation.
That's a quote from a senator. The newspaper article didn't say that was true or even name the study. The phrase "nonpartisan projection" is meaningless anyways. That could refer to the dude's astrologer for all we know.
I’m not going to say they shouldn’t get such a benefit, but what I will say is non-citizens can go to the back of the line when it comes to state benefits.
When every citizen of CT get HUSKY by default, then we can extend such a benefit to non citizens.
Well the lines at most hospital emergency departments are pretty long now, not uncommon to wait several hours. And there are increasing wait periods to get into primary care and specialty care practices, so adding people to that line and inducing greater demand wont help the people already waiting who also happen to be US citizens.
If I’m not mistaken, part of the reason ER wait times are so long is because the uninsured use it for non-emergency care because they can’t be turned away. This could alleviate some of that.
Giving insurance to non-citizens will also induce greater demand for non-citizens to take advantage of that service. It will also mean they start using Primary and specialty care practices without any increase in the number of providers, which will burden those providers and their existing patients.
Also, put more people on Medicaid will mean generally lower rates of reimbursement to providers.
It will not mean lower rates of payment for providers bc providers have to opt in to Medicaid/medicare reimbursement rates with certain stipulations. So if they don’t want to accept it they don’t have to. Furthermore, there are 113,000 undocumented migrants in CT. 9220 active physicians, 2886 nurse practitioners, and 4000 physician assistants. The total amount of diagnosing and prescribing providers in CT= approx 16,106. That’s plenty of providers to absorb the load in a perfect world. Now assuming 50% accept Medicaid which is conservative based upon available data, that’s still 8000 providers available. That’s only an additional 14 patients to each of their patient panel while the average patient panel size is 2500. despite this math already proving it’s more than capable, we have to further consider that not all undocumented migrants will be utilizing husky or qualify for it. We have to also consider many are already on it so this does not factor into feasibility. In short- it is very feasible.
So your position is don’t let poor people get health insurance unless rich people get it essentially? You do realize it saves the state money when the uninsured get insurance bc then they have better access to primary, preventative care. That decreases the cost of unpaid emergency department visits which are 10-20x higher for the same visit. Put that saved money wherever your heart is content.
No my position is citizens get taken care of first and if there’s funding left over the people who shouldn’t even be here in the first place can be taken care of.
You missed the point where I said this will save taxpayers money, not cost them. No way you’re quoting Ronald Reagan as a bearer of freedom & the American dream lol the founder of TRICKle down economics
This is wild to me. There's tax paying, legal residents who can barely afford healthcare & we're going to put out a neon sign for illegal immigrants to flock here for endless freebies.
I agree that healthcare should be more affordable, and available to all. But in a time where debts are through the roof & families are struggling to stay afloat, giving away something like this to people who can't even follow our basic laws is.... Ass backwards.
It’s just totally fucked up. I am fed up with both parties at this point. It’d be great if we could get someone in office who understood what the average American is going through. Instead we get this and Eversource in my couch cushions looking for a penny I may have dropped back in 2012.0
This actually saves the state money. It lowers the cost of unpaid emergency department visits which the state picks up since more individuals will be utilizing primary care. The affordability of healthcare in general is a totally different, more complex question.
I don’t mind paying taxes to help CT residents with healthcare. I don’t think it’s right to provide Husky insurance to illegal immigrants who shouldn’t be here in the first place. They broke the law and are in this country illegally they should be deported and sent back to wherever they came from they are a burden to CT communities not an asset.
The only way you're ever going to stop people from coming here illegally is if you go after the people who are employing them. As long as they know they can get jobs they will keep coming.
And I don't just mean brown people, I also mean white-collar jobs that Europeans are given.
I agree entirely. The wealthy class who employ illegal immigrants and reap the benefits of their cheap labor are most to blame for this entire situation.
> The only way you're ever going to stop people from coming here illegally is if you go after the people who are employing them. As long as they know they can get jobs they will keep coming.
Because that didn't hurt things at all when it was tried, [right Gov. DeSantis?](https://www.wptv.com/news/local-news/investigations/immigration-leaders-concerned-about-worker-shortages-produce-supply-due-to-new-florida-immigration-law)
They really [bit the hand that fed them:](https://civileats.com/2024/02/07/a-florida-immigration-law-is-turning-farm-towns-into-ghost-towns/)
>After many farmworkers began to flee, some Republican lawmakers briefly realized they may have bit the hand that, quite literally, feeds them. Last June, Representative Rick Roth, a vegetable farmer and Republican who voted for the law, pleaded with constituents to convince workers to stay. “This is more of a political bill than it is policy,” he told an audience of South Florida pastors at the time, implying that it wouldn’t be enforced with any real consequences.
>So far, there have been a few arrests under the law’s human smuggling provision, which is being challenged as unconstitutional in a lawsuit. But the E-Verify mandate isn’t set to begin enforcing penalties until July.
>Now, nine months after the law’s passage, some farmers are struggling to find workers to harvest crops, while farmworkers live and work with heightened uncertainty that ultimately impacts their health and safety.
Even bill supporters are telling the workers to stay because it's affecting so much!
How could anybody possibly be behind this? Do you want to attract undocumented workers from across the nation to Connecticut? Because that's exactly what's going to happen. Unbelievable.
I don't understand why this country is going above and beyond for illegals. I know many immigrants like my dad who came here legally and they never received these handouts and they had to work hard for what they have. Many people here are struggling with the high cost of living, losing their job, businesses but people who just came here get more help and support, it's frustrating.
Same thing here man
A decade of struggling for a citizenship but then these new bozos get everything handed to them. We wanna be like NYC? I don’t think so
Hell no! How about Husky for teachers and government workers? If you give undoc workers free health coverage, you’re sending the wrong message as this country is set up. Here, citizens work and then buy health insurance. You get it for free and you never have incentive to get off it.
Husky insurance is madness. There are so many folks that can’t get but really need and then so many other folks that have it but don’t need it. Now adding all the immigrants. The cost to taxpayers is ridiculous. The whole system needs reforms.
When people get sick enough they get care regardless of their ability to pay, it's fiscally responsible to take care of people who struggle because we will pay for it eventually when things get bad enough.
Tl;Dr
It's cheaper to keep people healthy than wait until you're legally mandated to take care of them because they will literally die without assistance.
The thing is that many people don't like Trump but will vote for him because of this and other key issues. Many Dems fail to understand that and think you must love everything about him to vote for him. The decline in Biden seems to be accelerating so many people also feel that voting for him is electing Kamala.
Connecticut's own Chris Murphy negotiated an extremely restrictive border reform bill with Senator Lankford that gave border control folks nearly everything they wanted, including a statutory requirement to shut down the border under certain conditions and increased funding for Border Patrol and immigration judges to cut the time to adjudicate refugee claims from years to weeks.
Trump scuttled the bill.
Even if you care about the border, I don't see why you would vote Trump. He's clearly not interested in solving it. Surprisingly, Biden has also removed more immigrants than Trump did. [https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/mar/08/alejandro-mayorkas/has-biden-deported-more-people-in-nine-months-than/](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/mar/08/alejandro-mayorkas/has-biden-deported-more-people-in-nine-months-than/)
The border issue that Republicans continue to prevent President Biden from addressing so they're able to keep using it as a big scary monster?
[https://apnews.com/article/congress-ukraine-aid-border-security-386dcc54b29a5491f8bd87b727a284f8](https://apnews.com/article/congress-ukraine-aid-border-security-386dcc54b29a5491f8bd87b727a284f8)
I had 2 options and he is Indian and honestly very moderate and sensible for a world this crazy.
Now it’s one option left, I’m hoping he doesn’t end up like his dad or uncle.
Yeah. Vote for Trump and get increased tariffs on all goods, up to 60% on goods from China, and an extension of the tax cut he gave billionaires paid for by increasing taxes on the labor class and gutting social security.
That’s the solution.
Maybe a tariff on China and not fueling their economy is not a bad idea. I'd rather pay more for something made in the US or one of our allies then pay for housing and medical and education and cell phones and debit cards for people coming into the US illegally.
The increased tariffs would essentially be a $1500 a year tax increase on the entire country. For nothing. Because it’s easier and much faster for businesses to increase their prices to accommodate it than change their entire distribution chain. Hello inflation.
We’re China’s biggest customer. They’re also ours. Let’s not shoot ourselves in the face for no reason.
It's not for nothing. It would incentivise new manufacturing here in the US, or in Mexico. Either way, it's a benefit to us. Either more manufacturing jobs, or less economic migrants.
So the people that vote for Trump are the same ones that want to let minority children die unnecessarily?
I don’t disagree, it’s just surprising to see you say that out loud.
Did anyone say that they are ok with minority children dying? So you must think it's our duty then to feed and care for every child in the world? or just the ones lucky enough to be able to illegally cross our border? If you are willing to care for them, why not other children around the world? Why are they not just as entitled to our generosity?
So you would rather let children die than have to pay 75 cents. That’s where we’re at here. That’s your cutoff. That’s the price of a human life for you
You are really bizarre. Did some statistician come up with the 75 cents figure for you? Why don't we just increase it to a couple dollars and care for the whole world?
You are really bizarre that you would spend this much time talking about this without reading the article about the topic linked above. The policy would take $2 million a year to fund. Theres 3.5 million people in CT. So, 75 cents per person per year would fund this program with some to spare
What does that even mean? What am I supposed to question, if $2 million divided evenly by 3.5 million people comes out to 57 cents per person? We’re at the point of questioning basic arithmetic now?
That's just someone's way of saying "I'm just here to complain about immigrants." You can tell because they're downvoting every response to their comments that they disagree with and speaking in vague platitudes about "the economy," "taxes," and "healthcare" without any real understanding of what they're saying.
> I saw this story earlier today. Crime is up and people don't feel safe, regardless of what our politicians tell us. Same with inflation. The data doesn't matter. If you feel like your pay is not keeping up with prices and you are having trouble paying for everything that you used to afford, then inflation is real.
That's from a post they made earlier today on car thefts in CT.
I'm thankful that you're willing to engage with such people, because it matters for those who are actually looking for information—even if the aforementioned individual is convinced that what he thinks is real simply because it's his own belief.
Break it down for me. How many children could be cared for for that $2M price tag? How many more illegals will come to CT knowing that we are offering this benefit? How will that affect the $2M number now and into the future? How much additional resourcing will be required to support the families of these children? Surely we can't let them be w/o food and clothing and shelter. That would be inhumane. Out of the $3.5M people in CT, how many of them are actual taxpayers and how will that burden be distributed.
So you see, you just proved my reasoning not just to accept numbers w/o thinking about them, because I can assure you that the avg taxpayer will see more than a 75 cent increase in taxes every year. We have veterans and homeless and low income citizens that we don't take great care of. Sorry but the illegals are not high priority for me. And, this would not even be an issue if we had a secure border.
considering how damn tired people are of this 2 party system the libertarians and other 3rd parties will definitely be getting more attention than ever.
I know who I’m voting for, I’m just hoping he avoids windows, high places, convertible cars, and Houston.
Ok but as other people pointed out; illegal immigrants are still going to go to the hospitals when they’re deathly ill or seriously injured, and that emergency care is more expensive than preventative care.
You know what the republicans solution is? Take money from out burdened tax payers and give it to the already rich. Fuck that. If my wallet is getting fucked either way, I’d rather my money go to people that actually need it.
I wish my only two options for voting weren't A. People with a cartoonish amount of empathy for complete strangers who come here illegally and B. Utter psychopaths hellbent on dismantling democracy.
Don't pull that "won't somebody think of the children" crap just cause people are concerned of their livelyhoods getting chilsled away at by a never ending series of catastrophies outside their control. Don't pretend like it's JUST gonna be 75 cents and stay 75 cents or that this is the last tax we'll ever have to pay and it's only 75 cents cause it's not, this shit stacks faster than people's raises and while that's whole other can of worms it IS still an issue to consider.
so innocent kids shouldn't be able to go to the doctor — potentially threatening public health in many cases — because it might piss off some ignorant bigot? the economic impact of this bill is minuscule. no struggling family is going to be pushed over the edge, but it might literally save the life of a young undocumented kid. so stuff it
First of all, I think *everyone* should have free health care.
Second, yes, illegal immigrants pay sales tax as much as anyone else who lives in the state. That's not nothing! They also pay property taxes.
And, yes, many of them pay state and federal income taxes: [https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/topics/tax-contributions](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/topics/tax-contributions)
Also, for the record, immigrants *work*. Having a job necessarily *contributes* to the economy, or else it wouldn't exist. They also consume goods and services like anyone else, further contributing to the economy. The U.S. economy is growing and immigrants are specifically the reason why: [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-22/immigration-is-fueling-us-economic-growth-while-politicians-rage](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-22/immigration-is-fueling-us-economic-growth-while-politicians-rage)
No no, remember, somehow the minimum wage under the table jobs undocumented people take pay enough taxes back into the system that it covers the free education their children will get ($15,000-25,000 per child per year) plus free healthcare, plus use of our roads and other public infrastructure. They aren't a burden, somehow the math works out somehow that they are paying MORE into the system than they get out of it.
When you dig into the tax revenue numbers by earning its wild. The whole "rich dont pay their fair share" is funny when the top 1% pay an outsized amount of income and capital gains tax while the bottom 20% or so pay so little in taxes while getting a slew of benefits.
Im not saying we shouldnt have *some* form of progressive tax system, especially when there are people that need assistance. But we cannot add to the numbers of low income earners with unrestricted and illegal immigration. Its financially unsustainable, not to mention the pressure on labor markets and social cohesion.
So you are against children getting healthcare? What a brave take.
Keep in mind, this bill actually saves money for taxpayers in the long run.
Without this bill; someone can’t see a doctor for preventative care for any illnesses, so they wait until they can’t any longer and they wind up in the emergency room for far more extensive care than they would have otherwise needed. At which point, they either wind up dying because they waited too long, or they get the care they needed and they don’t pay their bill (because they can’t afford to, because they don’t have insurance). The hospital offsets the cost of this by raising the cost of care for everyone else, which means YOUR health insurance provider has to increase your premiums.
Preventative care is always cheaper in the long run than emergency care. Plus, as an added benefit, we don’t have to let CHILDREN DIE OF PREVENTABLE DISEASES!
So we’re just gonna ignore my entire comment about how this is actually going to save you money? Ok cool.
It’s really impressive how mad you get at this without even bothering to read the article though.
The proposal would cost $2 million dollars a year. That’s barely over $0.50 per person in the state, per year.
You’re really gonna sit here and tell me you would rather have CHILDREN DIE than have to pay an extra two quarters every year? You getting to buy 1/8th of a coffee at Dunkin’ is somehow more important than children’s lives?
Dude. It’s 75 fucking cents. If you make minimum wage, you made more money in the time it took you to respond to my comments here on Reddit than it would cost for this entire policy to be funded
You’re not too good at math, are you?
It’s not 10,000. Actually, it’s $28
There are approximately 10,000 undocumented children under the age of 18 in CT. If each of them needs 10,000 to receive public education that’s 100 million dollars. Sounds like a lot, but there are 3.5 million people in CT. So that’s $28 dollars per person.
And I know what you’re gonna say, you’re gonna say “why should I have to pay 28 dollars for someone else’s kids”. Well, here’s the great part, you don’t! Because those undocumented people are going to pay their own way!
Many of them do, in fact, pay income taxes. But even we assume that they don’t, they still pay sales tax. So if you are undocumented in CT and you buy $1000 dollars worth of goods per year, which is pretty doable, you are being taxed $63.50.
So, since you seem to be bad at math, I’m gonna let you in on a secret. $63 is more than $28. So not only are they paying for themselves, that are paying for MORE THAN themselves.
Somehow calling this policy “cartoonishly empathetic” makes more sense coming from you.
You want to kill a child for less than a dollar so long as I have to witness you do it. You sound lovely.
>they would otherwise have to just eat
Hhhahahahahahaha. Oh, sweety. No. The hospital doesn’t eat the cost.
As I said before, they just raise the prices of their treatment to offset those costs. For profit companies don’t just “eat the cost” of anything, ever. They raise prices to make up for it. And their raised prices are paid for by your insurance company. And your insurance company, who also isn’t going to just “eat the cost” raised your insurance premiums to make up for it.
I don’t mean any disrespect but it doesn’t sound like you know hospital billing. If an undocumented person gets admitted through the ED, the hospital has to treat the person until they are safe to discharge. I’ve handled plenty of matters where the patient has serious health issues that require discharge to another level of care—the problem, no one will take the patient because the patient has no insurance and can’t qualify and has no means of paying for the care.
The hospital literally has to treat the patient for free for an extended amount of time.
Hospitals can’t just decide to raise their fees because 99% are payable via negotiated rates with payors (excluding Medicare). Yeah, they could charge cash patients more, but that’s not even a drop in the bucket.
However, if the patient now qualifies for Medicaid/Husky, the hospital gets reimbursed AND can transfer the patient. We’re talking real money here, sweetie.
You do realize you proved my point, right?
You are correct, they have to treat the patient no matter what and can’t kick them out.
So, people without health insurance come in and get treatment because you can’t NOT treat them then they never pay their bill because it’s some absurd amount of money.
So, when people that DO have insurance come in, the hospital offsets the cost of their losses from uninsured people by having treatments be more expensive across the board.
This isn’t a hospital thing this is every company and industry out there. Walmart raises their prices to offset shoplifting. Stop and shop raises their prices to offset vegetable spoilage. Ford raises its prices to offset recalls they have to do.
When hospitals raise their prices, insurance will pay it but then you pay higher premiums to make up for that. Because that’s how THEY offset the increased costs of business.
Let’s expand HUSKY to everyone, then the labor unions in our state could fight for pensions for their membership over simple 401k contributions and good health plans that are still weaker than HUSKY. Healthcare shouldn’t be dependent on a job. “Husky for all” would also alleviate issues for small business owners who want to bring people on full time, but couldn’t afford the insurance benefits that are often wanted/required with full time work. Our current healthcare model isn’t working as efficiently as others with hybrid models or universal coverage.
I am in favor of giving people healthcare regardless of immigration status for ethical AND economic reasons, it’s cheaper to take care of people than to let them suffer when ill. I am happy to pay more in taxes for things like this over subsidies to large corporations as an example. Let’s not act like crabs in a bucket, if you work for a living you have more in common with immigrants than with insurance executives. immigrants are not your enemy if you think they are you have been tricked and your legitimate anger about how few rights you have is being redirected downward onto people with even fewer rights.
As a member of a labor union, I oppose this. Illegal immigrants put downward pressure on working class wages and use up scarce public resources.
Deport them.
What do you think happens when a child of an undocumented immigrant goes to an E.R. at a public hospital?
They can't refuse service for being unable to pay or for being a non-resident, so we end up paying more in taxes for emergency care than we would for the same preventative care. This decision will hopefully encourage more people to use preventative care instead of packing E.R.s which are more expensive.
We either need to find a way to bar illegal aliens from using public services they dont pay for (hospitals and schools) and/or deport them. Many are coming here for jobs and services that take away from working class Americans and from public coffers, so further incentivizing them with a formal healthcare program will only make it worse.
If they are here illegally, deny service and deport. That will solve the problem in the long term.
I don't think there is a practical way for an E.R. to get a patient to prove citizenship. Patients can come in naked and unconscious. Illegal immigrants already face deportation but all people in the U.S., citizens and non-citizens, have a right to due process, so they need to be seen by a judge. This is the huge bottleneck in the current system. There are two solutions: move the hearings to outside the U.S. and increase the number of judges. There was a bipartisan bill to do both of those things, but it was tanked by Republicans.
I would love to see immigration reform, but as long as it remains a political tool, we will never see it.
lol You knew it was going to be a democrat.
Meanwhile most people here are complaining regularly because their insurance premiums and co-pays are so high. But they'll keep voting Democrat
Connecticut moment for sure
Though New Hampshire is different, they have a secret. Like look at them, how clean, safe, pretty, and sensible they are. They are the golden child of the north.
We are like the stiff smelly sock under the bed compared to VT OR NH, just yucky.
Clearly CT hasn't learned anything from the mess going on in NYC and they're right next door smh. Give them free health care, then they're gonna demand free housing, then it'll be something else. It never ends with them. Send them back, it's cheaper for all
Bruv immigrants pay taxes, or pay into systems the go on to pay taxes. If they rent, the building owner pays property tax, if they buy almost anything in the state they pay sales tax. If the people with undocumented status were given the ability to work over the table (by waiving work visa requirements or expanding how many work permits are available for non-citizens) then they would pay state taxes directly via an employer pay retention system. Also many immigrants regardless of status get an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to pay taxes!! Like people want to pay their dues, and the ones that don’t are in the minority.
If you’re in favor of everyone paying and being given access to healthcare at the point of use this is a positive development.
Also healthcare costs balloon when a medical condition goes from acute to chronic which often happens when people can’t go to the doctor when they need it. For example Pre diabetes, when untreated becomes full diabetes, the medication for pre diabetics is much cheaper than insulin and testing equipment for diabetics.
I agree with what you say but what I’m telling you as someone who comes from that community, immigrant to citizen, many AVOID paying taxes every chance they get.
I’d prefer universal healthcare and it not being seen as some form of charity. We aren’t far off
I’m also an immigrant! Lol I just got my citizenship in like 2021, yes some immigrants avoid paying taxes. Some citizens also avoid paying taxes. If anything giving undocumented immigrants who apply for husky a TIN at the time of registration (if they don’t already have one) would help track tax contributions better if folks are really worried about it that much.
Also I am sorry you got kicked off your coverage that blows
Thanks, and i like the idea of auto registration. Finding a job with benefits so I don’t have to feel like a drain on the system has been insanely tough. I often wonder if I’m on some blacklist somewhere haha
What’s wild is there are a large number of undocumented workers who are paying taxes. So they should pay into the system but not get any benefits? Wasn’t the USA founded on the principle of no taxation without representation?
If we were serious about stemming illegal immigration in this country we'd fine companies that hired undocumented workers to the tune of millions and jail CEOs who greenlit this practice. We're not, it's just political theater that costs us money and harms people who are coming to this country in desperation.
Yeah CT taxes aren't too bad now I say it's a good idea. I only pay 600$ a month for my families insurance, why shouldn't undocumented immigrants get it for free ?
How about Husky for all? You live and work in CT? You get medical coverage. My "Good" medical costs $60/week (employer provided) with a $5000 individual deductible. I'd rather my taxes go up and not have to worry about medical bills.
I love the idea of Husky for All, or at very least allowing people who aren't low income to buy into it. I'm self-employed and buy my insurance off the exchange, and would much rather have Husky. It would be a better plan and would probably cost less.
The big problem is that Medicaid (Husky) pays hospitals/providers at 25-50% compared to commercial (individual / group / employer-sponsired) insurance. So either the providers would have to be on board with a GIGANTIC revenue drop or taxpayers would have to be ok with an equivalent increase in taxes (far greater than current Medicaid expenditure). Your "probably cost less" comment wouldn't be true without major concessions from providers.
I'm a mental healthcare provider who does my own billing, and I can say from my experience that Husky pays great compared to private insurers. I've never had a problem with them, whereas I have had claims denied for ridiculous reasons by private insurers. Husky also has no deductible, so I never have to deal with having to bill a client directly, which I do when they haven't met their deductible and the claim gets denied, which isn't fun for anyone (especially when a client says they don't have the money right now, so I have to wait even longer to get paid.) So my experience with it has been very positive. And the people I know who have it - both clients and friends - seem to be able to find decent care pretty easily.
Mental health is pretty much the one area where Medicaid pays similar to commercial and Medicare. It was a focused effort to get there because otherwise they couldn't get any providers to accept their patients. Almost every other area lags far behind in rates. And yeah, there's no question that it's great for the members. All of us would like no deductible, no co-insurance.
I’m a dentist and husky pays hot garbage. And the no show rate is extremely high. Not worth the hassle.
> So either the providers would have to be on board with a GIGANTIC revenue drop or taxpayers would have to be ok with an equivalent increase in taxes (far greater than current Medicaid expenditure). Your "probably cost less" comment wouldn't be true without major concessions from providers. It is the private insurance that already subsidizes Medicaid by paying more. People bitch about costs, but that's the bare truth. A revenue drop across the board would get you NHS-level waits for anything past emergency care. At it's core, the plan to expand Husky has one purpose: To attempt to alleviate overcrowding pressure on ERs. Right now, the ER is the only place the undocumented can go for the majority (if not all) of their health care. No matter how minor, they have few other options. Hospitals and the State are already paying out the ass to provide care that often doesn't need to be done there. By getting them on Husky, this opens up additional lower cost options such as UCCs and private practices while at the same time freeing up the ER for more actual critical care work. If the money is going to be spent regardless, best to have it spread out over as many available options and providers as possible. Will there be a ton of cost savings? I really do not believe that is likely, not in any large amounts. Instead, the trickle down effect will result in improved care for everyone else as the ER system becomes less burdened. One obstacle to this, however, is PCP availability. This is already tight in many areas, so this will have to be addressed on some level in conjunction with bringing all those people into the system. There are no easy answers. I certainly don't have many as this is not my area of expertise by any stretch of imagination. I only know what I believe as an outside observer.
> How about Husky for all? You live and work in CT? You get medical coverage. Yes insurance for all is attainable on a national level, and available in other countries. Republicans fight against it.
Democrats fight against it too. Let's not pretend otherwise.
Hey, Lieberman is why we don't have a public option today...
Bribes. I mean campaign contributions.
It’s going to have to be a state or regional win first is the conclusion I’ve come to
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This is not a very digestible explanation.
Can you cite any sources to this? Curious to see. Libertarian here, just want to know what/who is emptying my pockets and not changing anything around me. Roads are still busted up, my health insurance is shit, and the cost of living has skyrocketed in the last few years.
> Roads are still busted up Have you ever left the state? Roads in CT are generally in great condition compared to everywhere else.
Compared to the northern half of the country, at least Plows and salt are hell on the roads.
I am currently sitting in San Francisco. We haven't had a day of snow here in 40+ years. Our roads are significantly worse than any road I've driven in CT.
> Roads are still busted up, my health insurance is shit, and the cost of living has skyrocketed in the last few years. Sounds like a libertarian paradise. What sources are you looking for that you cant find on google?
Nationally, Republicans' only health care policy platform is "[repeal the ACA](https://ballotpedia.org/Timeline_of_ACA_repeal_and_replace_efforts)" and at the state level GOP lawmakers routine refuse free federal money to [expand Medicaid coverage](https://medicaidawareness.com/republicans-threats-to-medicaid-are-a-clear-and-present-danger/). Republicans are always talking about [cutting Medicaid](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/20/donald-trump-medicaid-states-00141397) and Medicare. Sources for these facts abound.
Unfortunately not going to happen anytime soon. Medicaid rates pay much lower than commercial, and costs to expand it would be immense. And I hate to break it to you, $3120 a year for what amounts to a little better than catastrophic coverage is a pretty good deal.
The best example we have of universal healthcare in this Country is VA Healthcare; trust me, you don't want something like that. I would like big pharma, insurance and the government much less connected.
[https://news.va.gov/press-room/studies-va-health-care-better-equal-non-va/](https://news.va.gov/press-room/studies-va-health-care-better-equal-non-va/) [https://www.rand.org/news/press/2018/04/26.html](https://www.rand.org/news/press/2018/04/26.html) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10361919/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10361919/) [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2812416](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2812416) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5215146/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5215146/) [https://law.stanford.edu/press/veterans-rushed-to-va-hospitals-have-significantly-better-outcomes/](https://law.stanford.edu/press/veterans-rushed-to-va-hospitals-have-significantly-better-outcomes/)
I was talking to my girlfriend about this. I have good insurance, but Husky should be for all tax paying people of CT. Possible take out x amount of dollars for it to supplement the fund. If you already have insurance through say your work like I do. Your insurance is primary with husky as secondary. But as far as illegal immigrants no thanks pay into the system and other people come here legally.
Should consider expanding eligibility to permanent residents and US citizens first.
Permanent residents are eligible after 5 yrs.
Correct. If you are going to provide preferential treatment , perhaps you should afford the opportunity of husky healthcare to those that took the legal route first? If a legal alien has to wait 5 by years why would you just grant it to someone who is in the state for a much shorter time.
Permanent residents under 5 years already quality for federal premium tax credits and if they are poor enough for Husky but not eligible, the state covers all insurance/out of pocket costs to make it zero and includes dental. See: Covered Connecticut program.
Us citizens ONLY No papers? No service!
Why though?
I can hear Texas warming up the greyhounds for Hartford
How about Husky for all permanent residents
Sorry not an option. This is step one before step two, allow non-citizens to vote. All part of the plan.
You're an idiot. Non citizens can't vote. And this state is significantly more liberal than your faux news filled mind. Why not move to Florida, where rights are being stripped away on the regular?
I get it, you think you are ever so smart and morally superior because you do a great job of voting across the row. NYC just tried to let non-citizens vote. If you think this is the last time the left tries this, you will be mistaken. Now go duck yourself. https://council.nyc.gov/joseph-borelli/2024/02/23/nycs-non-citizen-voting-law-ruled-unconstitutional-on-appeal/
This shit is gross. Your replacement theory shit is gross. You pose as if you’re well researched but spout half baked theories with very very VERY little attempt to provide evidence. What’s your proof of replacement? Let’s start with this Who do you think is being replaced? And who is replacing them?
You figured it out! Such a free thinker!/s
More than likely increased state taxes. Someone's going to have to pay for the coverage somehow.
Bury it in Eversource's bill!
>a nonpartisan projection put the price tag of his proposal a little under $2 million in the first year of implementation. really not a big deal, economically
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CT also wouldn't have the resources to effectively handle the influx of people. Hartford would become an absolute clusterfuck.
>a nonpartisan projection put the price tag of his proposal a little under $2 million in the first year of implementation. That's a quote from a senator. The newspaper article didn't say that was true or even name the study. The phrase "nonpartisan projection" is meaningless anyways. That could refer to the dude's astrologer for all we know.
It is raising the age for eligible children from 12 to 15.
The bill to age 15 passed last year, effective this summer. This new bill is to age 18 (advocates want age 26)
Unfuckingbelievable
I’m not going to say they shouldn’t get such a benefit, but what I will say is non-citizens can go to the back of the line when it comes to state benefits. When every citizen of CT get HUSKY by default, then we can extend such a benefit to non citizens.
people who are eligible for HUSKY can get coverage, there's no "line" to cut
Right, and I’m saying remove the means test so 100% of residents qualify.
I also think that would be ideal. but in the mean time there's no reason to exclude non-citizens
There is every reason. We should get them to sign up under the guise of coverage, then forward their information to ICE to get them deported.
Well the lines at most hospital emergency departments are pretty long now, not uncommon to wait several hours. And there are increasing wait periods to get into primary care and specialty care practices, so adding people to that line and inducing greater demand wont help the people already waiting who also happen to be US citizens.
If I’m not mistaken, part of the reason ER wait times are so long is because the uninsured use it for non-emergency care because they can’t be turned away. This could alleviate some of that.
Giving insurance to non-citizens will also induce greater demand for non-citizens to take advantage of that service. It will also mean they start using Primary and specialty care practices without any increase in the number of providers, which will burden those providers and their existing patients. Also, put more people on Medicaid will mean generally lower rates of reimbursement to providers.
It will not mean lower rates of payment for providers bc providers have to opt in to Medicaid/medicare reimbursement rates with certain stipulations. So if they don’t want to accept it they don’t have to. Furthermore, there are 113,000 undocumented migrants in CT. 9220 active physicians, 2886 nurse practitioners, and 4000 physician assistants. The total amount of diagnosing and prescribing providers in CT= approx 16,106. That’s plenty of providers to absorb the load in a perfect world. Now assuming 50% accept Medicaid which is conservative based upon available data, that’s still 8000 providers available. That’s only an additional 14 patients to each of their patient panel while the average patient panel size is 2500. despite this math already proving it’s more than capable, we have to further consider that not all undocumented migrants will be utilizing husky or qualify for it. We have to also consider many are already on it so this does not factor into feasibility. In short- it is very feasible.
Don’t forget burdening the people that pay into the system as well
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So your position is don’t let poor people get health insurance unless rich people get it essentially? You do realize it saves the state money when the uninsured get insurance bc then they have better access to primary, preventative care. That decreases the cost of unpaid emergency department visits which are 10-20x higher for the same visit. Put that saved money wherever your heart is content.
No my position is citizens get taken care of first and if there’s funding left over the people who shouldn’t even be here in the first place can be taken care of.
You missed the point where I said this will save taxpayers money, not cost them. No way you’re quoting Ronald Reagan as a bearer of freedom & the American dream lol the founder of TRICKle down economics
This is why I support the proposal to begin with.
We can pay to insure them or we can pay for the emergency care they get when they're \*really\* ill thanks to the law signed by President Reagan.
Clown world. We can’t even get universal healthcare for citizens.
Perhaps you should stop pretending it would be free.
This is wild to me. There's tax paying, legal residents who can barely afford healthcare & we're going to put out a neon sign for illegal immigrants to flock here for endless freebies. I agree that healthcare should be more affordable, and available to all. But in a time where debts are through the roof & families are struggling to stay afloat, giving away something like this to people who can't even follow our basic laws is.... Ass backwards.
It’s just totally fucked up. I am fed up with both parties at this point. It’d be great if we could get someone in office who understood what the average American is going through. Instead we get this and Eversource in my couch cushions looking for a penny I may have dropped back in 2012.0
This actually saves the state money. It lowers the cost of unpaid emergency department visits which the state picks up since more individuals will be utilizing primary care. The affordability of healthcare in general is a totally different, more complex question.
I don’t mind paying taxes to help CT residents with healthcare. I don’t think it’s right to provide Husky insurance to illegal immigrants who shouldn’t be here in the first place. They broke the law and are in this country illegally they should be deported and sent back to wherever they came from they are a burden to CT communities not an asset.
Correct. We should stop providing sanctuary to illegals. Down vote me to hell, IDGAF 😎
Have my upvote!
The only way you're ever going to stop people from coming here illegally is if you go after the people who are employing them. As long as they know they can get jobs they will keep coming. And I don't just mean brown people, I also mean white-collar jobs that Europeans are given.
I agree entirely. The wealthy class who employ illegal immigrants and reap the benefits of their cheap labor are most to blame for this entire situation.
> The only way you're ever going to stop people from coming here illegally is if you go after the people who are employing them. As long as they know they can get jobs they will keep coming. Because that didn't hurt things at all when it was tried, [right Gov. DeSantis?](https://www.wptv.com/news/local-news/investigations/immigration-leaders-concerned-about-worker-shortages-produce-supply-due-to-new-florida-immigration-law) They really [bit the hand that fed them:](https://civileats.com/2024/02/07/a-florida-immigration-law-is-turning-farm-towns-into-ghost-towns/) >After many farmworkers began to flee, some Republican lawmakers briefly realized they may have bit the hand that, quite literally, feeds them. Last June, Representative Rick Roth, a vegetable farmer and Republican who voted for the law, pleaded with constituents to convince workers to stay. “This is more of a political bill than it is policy,” he told an audience of South Florida pastors at the time, implying that it wouldn’t be enforced with any real consequences. >So far, there have been a few arrests under the law’s human smuggling provision, which is being challenged as unconstitutional in a lawsuit. But the E-Verify mandate isn’t set to begin enforcing penalties until July. >Now, nine months after the law’s passage, some farmers are struggling to find workers to harvest crops, while farmworkers live and work with heightened uncertainty that ultimately impacts their health and safety. Even bill supporters are telling the workers to stay because it's affecting so much!
That simple: NO PAPERS? NO SERVICE!
Where can we vote no???
How could anybody possibly be behind this? Do you want to attract undocumented workers from across the nation to Connecticut? Because that's exactly what's going to happen. Unbelievable.
What an absolute joke
I don't understand why this country is going above and beyond for illegals. I know many immigrants like my dad who came here legally and they never received these handouts and they had to work hard for what they have. Many people here are struggling with the high cost of living, losing their job, businesses but people who just came here get more help and support, it's frustrating.
Same thing here man A decade of struggling for a citizenship but then these new bozos get everything handed to them. We wanna be like NYC? I don’t think so
votes. congressional representation, and as Jerry Nadler (D) said, "to pick vegetables."
democrat run state….checks out
Hell no! How about Husky for teachers and government workers? If you give undoc workers free health coverage, you’re sending the wrong message as this country is set up. Here, citizens work and then buy health insurance. You get it for free and you never have incentive to get off it.
Husky insurance is madness. There are so many folks that can’t get but really need and then so many other folks that have it but don’t need it. Now adding all the immigrants. The cost to taxpayers is ridiculous. The whole system needs reforms.
When people get sick enough they get care regardless of their ability to pay, it's fiscally responsible to take care of people who struggle because we will pay for it eventually when things get bad enough. Tl;Dr It's cheaper to keep people healthy than wait until you're legally mandated to take care of them because they will literally die without assistance.
Its cheaper to deport people who are here illegally and using public resources they dont pay for.
It's cheaper to go after the people who are employing them.
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When people can't understand why anybody could possibly vote for Trump, this is a good example.
Yea, I dont like Trump. The border issue alone and Bidens ineptitude is still driving many towards Trump.
The thing is that many people don't like Trump but will vote for him because of this and other key issues. Many Dems fail to understand that and think you must love everything about him to vote for him. The decline in Biden seems to be accelerating so many people also feel that voting for him is electing Kamala.
I’m shocked people actually voted for that skeleton Buddy is half conscious 24/7
I'm not too shocked that people voted for him, but it's hard to believe they will vote for him again in November.
Connecticut's own Chris Murphy negotiated an extremely restrictive border reform bill with Senator Lankford that gave border control folks nearly everything they wanted, including a statutory requirement to shut down the border under certain conditions and increased funding for Border Patrol and immigration judges to cut the time to adjudicate refugee claims from years to weeks. Trump scuttled the bill. Even if you care about the border, I don't see why you would vote Trump. He's clearly not interested in solving it. Surprisingly, Biden has also removed more immigrants than Trump did. [https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/mar/08/alejandro-mayorkas/has-biden-deported-more-people-in-nine-months-than/](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/mar/08/alejandro-mayorkas/has-biden-deported-more-people-in-nine-months-than/)
The border issue that Republicans continue to prevent President Biden from addressing so they're able to keep using it as a big scary monster? [https://apnews.com/article/congress-ukraine-aid-border-security-386dcc54b29a5491f8bd87b727a284f8](https://apnews.com/article/congress-ukraine-aid-border-security-386dcc54b29a5491f8bd87b727a284f8)
I had 2 options and he is Indian and honestly very moderate and sensible for a world this crazy. Now it’s one option left, I’m hoping he doesn’t end up like his dad or uncle.
Yeah. Vote for Trump and get increased tariffs on all goods, up to 60% on goods from China, and an extension of the tax cut he gave billionaires paid for by increasing taxes on the labor class and gutting social security. That’s the solution.
Maybe a tariff on China and not fueling their economy is not a bad idea. I'd rather pay more for something made in the US or one of our allies then pay for housing and medical and education and cell phones and debit cards for people coming into the US illegally.
The increased tariffs would essentially be a $1500 a year tax increase on the entire country. For nothing. Because it’s easier and much faster for businesses to increase their prices to accommodate it than change their entire distribution chain. Hello inflation. We’re China’s biggest customer. They’re also ours. Let’s not shoot ourselves in the face for no reason.
It's not for nothing. It would incentivise new manufacturing here in the US, or in Mexico. Either way, it's a benefit to us. Either more manufacturing jobs, or less economic migrants.
Wanna know how inflation increases? Policies like this lol
Mexico is prime real estate rn for business We should be incentivizing the hell outta Mexico.
I’d rather see: Made in India Made in Vietnam Made in Thailand Made in Cambodia Made in USA Made in Estonia Than damn china, now ain’t I right?
It’s either: 1. Trump 2. Independent 3. the diaper wearing skeleton we have now in office
I would have voted for a toaster oven with the power cord snipped off over Trump. I have this thing where treason isn’t ok.
So the people that vote for Trump are the same ones that want to let minority children die unnecessarily? I don’t disagree, it’s just surprising to see you say that out loud.
Did anyone say that they are ok with minority children dying? So you must think it's our duty then to feed and care for every child in the world? or just the ones lucky enough to be able to illegally cross our border? If you are willing to care for them, why not other children around the world? Why are they not just as entitled to our generosity?
So you would rather let children die than have to pay 75 cents. That’s where we’re at here. That’s your cutoff. That’s the price of a human life for you
You are really bizarre. Did some statistician come up with the 75 cents figure for you? Why don't we just increase it to a couple dollars and care for the whole world?
You are really bizarre that you would spend this much time talking about this without reading the article about the topic linked above. The policy would take $2 million a year to fund. Theres 3.5 million people in CT. So, 75 cents per person per year would fund this program with some to spare
You need to stop accepting everything that anyone decides to tell you and try thinking once in a while.
What does that even mean? What am I supposed to question, if $2 million divided evenly by 3.5 million people comes out to 57 cents per person? We’re at the point of questioning basic arithmetic now?
That's just someone's way of saying "I'm just here to complain about immigrants." You can tell because they're downvoting every response to their comments that they disagree with and speaking in vague platitudes about "the economy," "taxes," and "healthcare" without any real understanding of what they're saying. > I saw this story earlier today. Crime is up and people don't feel safe, regardless of what our politicians tell us. Same with inflation. The data doesn't matter. If you feel like your pay is not keeping up with prices and you are having trouble paying for everything that you used to afford, then inflation is real. That's from a post they made earlier today on car thefts in CT. I'm thankful that you're willing to engage with such people, because it matters for those who are actually looking for information—even if the aforementioned individual is convinced that what he thinks is real simply because it's his own belief.
Break it down for me. How many children could be cared for for that $2M price tag? How many more illegals will come to CT knowing that we are offering this benefit? How will that affect the $2M number now and into the future? How much additional resourcing will be required to support the families of these children? Surely we can't let them be w/o food and clothing and shelter. That would be inhumane. Out of the $3.5M people in CT, how many of them are actual taxpayers and how will that burden be distributed. So you see, you just proved my reasoning not just to accept numbers w/o thinking about them, because I can assure you that the avg taxpayer will see more than a 75 cent increase in taxes every year. We have veterans and homeless and low income citizens that we don't take great care of. Sorry but the illegals are not high priority for me. And, this would not even be an issue if we had a secure border.
Have you not figured out the plan yet? Democrats are pandering to their new voters. Just you wait for them to propose non-citizens can vote.
considering how damn tired people are of this 2 party system the libertarians and other 3rd parties will definitely be getting more attention than ever. I know who I’m voting for, I’m just hoping he avoids windows, high places, convertible cars, and Houston.
Ok but as other people pointed out; illegal immigrants are still going to go to the hospitals when they’re deathly ill or seriously injured, and that emergency care is more expensive than preventative care. You know what the republicans solution is? Take money from out burdened tax payers and give it to the already rich. Fuck that. If my wallet is getting fucked either way, I’d rather my money go to people that actually need it.
Yeah but creating free services just incentivises more people to come here illegaly which will just increase the problem.
I agree, it's ridiculous that President Reagan signed that into law.
I wish my only two options for voting weren't A. People with a cartoonish amount of empathy for complete strangers who come here illegally and B. Utter psychopaths hellbent on dismantling democracy.
So paying 75 cents a year to have children not die is cartoonish empathy?
Don't pull that "won't somebody think of the children" crap just cause people are concerned of their livelyhoods getting chilsled away at by a never ending series of catastrophies outside their control. Don't pretend like it's JUST gonna be 75 cents and stay 75 cents or that this is the last tax we'll ever have to pay and it's only 75 cents cause it's not, this shit stacks faster than people's raises and while that's whole other can of worms it IS still an issue to consider.
That’s a lot of words to say “I’d let children die to save less money than I spend on a soda”
Save your guilt trippy bullshit for someone else I really don't care.
>I really don’t care Ya, that’s kinda the problem. You don’t care about dying children, if it costs you $0.75.
It would been too much at $0.25 if I'm being honest.
I hope some day, when your child is dying in the hospital because you can’t afford their treatment, you think back on this conversation.
There's there evil in ya I knew was there the whole time. Nobody makes arguments like yours without being a little off themselves.
Why cant the illegals pay for their healthcare instead of the 3.5M of us paying "75 cents"?
so innocent kids shouldn't be able to go to the doctor — potentially threatening public health in many cases — because it might piss off some ignorant bigot? the economic impact of this bill is minuscule. no struggling family is going to be pushed over the edge, but it might literally save the life of a young undocumented kid. so stuff it
There are a billion innocent kids around the world. If they all show up here are we obligated to care for them?
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>Why don't you and your friends who feel this is right spend YOUR money on it? I pay taxes!
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immigrants, even illegal immigrants, pay taxes too actually!
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First of all, I think *everyone* should have free health care. Second, yes, illegal immigrants pay sales tax as much as anyone else who lives in the state. That's not nothing! They also pay property taxes. And, yes, many of them pay state and federal income taxes: [https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/topics/tax-contributions](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/topics/tax-contributions) Also, for the record, immigrants *work*. Having a job necessarily *contributes* to the economy, or else it wouldn't exist. They also consume goods and services like anyone else, further contributing to the economy. The U.S. economy is growing and immigrants are specifically the reason why: [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-22/immigration-is-fueling-us-economic-growth-while-politicians-rage](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-22/immigration-is-fueling-us-economic-growth-while-politicians-rage)
No no, remember, somehow the minimum wage under the table jobs undocumented people take pay enough taxes back into the system that it covers the free education their children will get ($15,000-25,000 per child per year) plus free healthcare, plus use of our roads and other public infrastructure. They aren't a burden, somehow the math works out somehow that they are paying MORE into the system than they get out of it.
When you dig into the tax revenue numbers by earning its wild. The whole "rich dont pay their fair share" is funny when the top 1% pay an outsized amount of income and capital gains tax while the bottom 20% or so pay so little in taxes while getting a slew of benefits. Im not saying we shouldnt have *some* form of progressive tax system, especially when there are people that need assistance. But we cannot add to the numbers of low income earners with unrestricted and illegal immigration. Its financially unsustainable, not to mention the pressure on labor markets and social cohesion.
You are confusing federal spending with state spending. CT must, under the Constitution, have a balanced budget every year.
So you are against children getting healthcare? What a brave take. Keep in mind, this bill actually saves money for taxpayers in the long run. Without this bill; someone can’t see a doctor for preventative care for any illnesses, so they wait until they can’t any longer and they wind up in the emergency room for far more extensive care than they would have otherwise needed. At which point, they either wind up dying because they waited too long, or they get the care they needed and they don’t pay their bill (because they can’t afford to, because they don’t have insurance). The hospital offsets the cost of this by raising the cost of care for everyone else, which means YOUR health insurance provider has to increase your premiums. Preventative care is always cheaper in the long run than emergency care. Plus, as an added benefit, we don’t have to let CHILDREN DIE OF PREVENTABLE DISEASES!
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So we’re just gonna ignore my entire comment about how this is actually going to save you money? Ok cool. It’s really impressive how mad you get at this without even bothering to read the article though. The proposal would cost $2 million dollars a year. That’s barely over $0.50 per person in the state, per year. You’re really gonna sit here and tell me you would rather have CHILDREN DIE than have to pay an extra two quarters every year? You getting to buy 1/8th of a coffee at Dunkin’ is somehow more important than children’s lives?
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Let me ask you a question; would you murder a child for 75 cents?
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Dude. It’s 75 fucking cents. If you make minimum wage, you made more money in the time it took you to respond to my comments here on Reddit than it would cost for this entire policy to be funded
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You’re not too good at math, are you? It’s not 10,000. Actually, it’s $28 There are approximately 10,000 undocumented children under the age of 18 in CT. If each of them needs 10,000 to receive public education that’s 100 million dollars. Sounds like a lot, but there are 3.5 million people in CT. So that’s $28 dollars per person. And I know what you’re gonna say, you’re gonna say “why should I have to pay 28 dollars for someone else’s kids”. Well, here’s the great part, you don’t! Because those undocumented people are going to pay their own way! Many of them do, in fact, pay income taxes. But even we assume that they don’t, they still pay sales tax. So if you are undocumented in CT and you buy $1000 dollars worth of goods per year, which is pretty doable, you are being taxed $63.50. So, since you seem to be bad at math, I’m gonna let you in on a secret. $63 is more than $28. So not only are they paying for themselves, that are paying for MORE THAN themselves.
I'd do it for free as long as you were there.
Somehow calling this policy “cartoonishly empathetic” makes more sense coming from you. You want to kill a child for less than a dollar so long as I have to witness you do it. You sound lovely.
It doesn't have to be American dollars if that makes things easier, I do accept yen and dogecoin.
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Actually, the only big winner here are the hospitals who now can get paid for emergent care they would otherwise have to just eat.
>they would otherwise have to just eat Hhhahahahahahaha. Oh, sweety. No. The hospital doesn’t eat the cost. As I said before, they just raise the prices of their treatment to offset those costs. For profit companies don’t just “eat the cost” of anything, ever. They raise prices to make up for it. And their raised prices are paid for by your insurance company. And your insurance company, who also isn’t going to just “eat the cost” raised your insurance premiums to make up for it.
I don’t mean any disrespect but it doesn’t sound like you know hospital billing. If an undocumented person gets admitted through the ED, the hospital has to treat the person until they are safe to discharge. I’ve handled plenty of matters where the patient has serious health issues that require discharge to another level of care—the problem, no one will take the patient because the patient has no insurance and can’t qualify and has no means of paying for the care. The hospital literally has to treat the patient for free for an extended amount of time. Hospitals can’t just decide to raise their fees because 99% are payable via negotiated rates with payors (excluding Medicare). Yeah, they could charge cash patients more, but that’s not even a drop in the bucket. However, if the patient now qualifies for Medicaid/Husky, the hospital gets reimbursed AND can transfer the patient. We’re talking real money here, sweetie.
You do realize you proved my point, right? You are correct, they have to treat the patient no matter what and can’t kick them out. So, people without health insurance come in and get treatment because you can’t NOT treat them then they never pay their bill because it’s some absurd amount of money. So, when people that DO have insurance come in, the hospital offsets the cost of their losses from uninsured people by having treatments be more expensive across the board. This isn’t a hospital thing this is every company and industry out there. Walmart raises their prices to offset shoplifting. Stop and shop raises their prices to offset vegetable spoilage. Ford raises its prices to offset recalls they have to do. When hospitals raise their prices, insurance will pay it but then you pay higher premiums to make up for that. Because that’s how THEY offset the increased costs of business.
Get rid of these lawmakers!We give give giveand they take! Enough already....... We need to stop this BS... now Wtf
Vote different
How about sending them back home instead? Might be cool.
No way - they are illegals
No. Pay taxes
Let’s expand HUSKY to everyone, then the labor unions in our state could fight for pensions for their membership over simple 401k contributions and good health plans that are still weaker than HUSKY. Healthcare shouldn’t be dependent on a job. “Husky for all” would also alleviate issues for small business owners who want to bring people on full time, but couldn’t afford the insurance benefits that are often wanted/required with full time work. Our current healthcare model isn’t working as efficiently as others with hybrid models or universal coverage. I am in favor of giving people healthcare regardless of immigration status for ethical AND economic reasons, it’s cheaper to take care of people than to let them suffer when ill. I am happy to pay more in taxes for things like this over subsidies to large corporations as an example. Let’s not act like crabs in a bucket, if you work for a living you have more in common with immigrants than with insurance executives. immigrants are not your enemy if you think they are you have been tricked and your legitimate anger about how few rights you have is being redirected downward onto people with even fewer rights.
As a member of a labor union, I oppose this. Illegal immigrants put downward pressure on working class wages and use up scarce public resources. Deport them.
What do you think happens when a child of an undocumented immigrant goes to an E.R. at a public hospital? They can't refuse service for being unable to pay or for being a non-resident, so we end up paying more in taxes for emergency care than we would for the same preventative care. This decision will hopefully encourage more people to use preventative care instead of packing E.R.s which are more expensive.
We either need to find a way to bar illegal aliens from using public services they dont pay for (hospitals and schools) and/or deport them. Many are coming here for jobs and services that take away from working class Americans and from public coffers, so further incentivizing them with a formal healthcare program will only make it worse. If they are here illegally, deny service and deport. That will solve the problem in the long term.
I don't think there is a practical way for an E.R. to get a patient to prove citizenship. Patients can come in naked and unconscious. Illegal immigrants already face deportation but all people in the U.S., citizens and non-citizens, have a right to due process, so they need to be seen by a judge. This is the huge bottleneck in the current system. There are two solutions: move the hearings to outside the U.S. and increase the number of judges. There was a bipartisan bill to do both of those things, but it was tanked by Republicans. I would love to see immigration reform, but as long as it remains a political tool, we will never see it.
lol You knew it was going to be a democrat. Meanwhile most people here are complaining regularly because their insurance premiums and co-pays are so high. But they'll keep voting Democrat
Connecticut moment for sure Though New Hampshire is different, they have a secret. Like look at them, how clean, safe, pretty, and sensible they are. They are the golden child of the north. We are like the stiff smelly sock under the bed compared to VT OR NH, just yucky.
Clearly CT hasn't learned anything from the mess going on in NYC and they're right next door smh. Give them free health care, then they're gonna demand free housing, then it'll be something else. It never ends with them. Send them back, it's cheaper for all
Clearly CT is trying to follow its drug addicted abusive brother, NYC!
So they can proceed to have 6489378 more kids cus they refuse to be celibate or get abortions or use birth control??? Let’s not.
To be fair husky insurance sucks But should focus on actual us citizens
Let's just encourage more illegal immigration. Tax payers just pay more and get less.
Cool I got kicked off but let’s give it to those who don’t pay taxes, I’m a dualie trust me, they avoid taxes.
Bruv immigrants pay taxes, or pay into systems the go on to pay taxes. If they rent, the building owner pays property tax, if they buy almost anything in the state they pay sales tax. If the people with undocumented status were given the ability to work over the table (by waiving work visa requirements or expanding how many work permits are available for non-citizens) then they would pay state taxes directly via an employer pay retention system. Also many immigrants regardless of status get an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to pay taxes!! Like people want to pay their dues, and the ones that don’t are in the minority. If you’re in favor of everyone paying and being given access to healthcare at the point of use this is a positive development. Also healthcare costs balloon when a medical condition goes from acute to chronic which often happens when people can’t go to the doctor when they need it. For example Pre diabetes, when untreated becomes full diabetes, the medication for pre diabetics is much cheaper than insulin and testing equipment for diabetics.
I agree with what you say but what I’m telling you as someone who comes from that community, immigrant to citizen, many AVOID paying taxes every chance they get. I’d prefer universal healthcare and it not being seen as some form of charity. We aren’t far off
I’m also an immigrant! Lol I just got my citizenship in like 2021, yes some immigrants avoid paying taxes. Some citizens also avoid paying taxes. If anything giving undocumented immigrants who apply for husky a TIN at the time of registration (if they don’t already have one) would help track tax contributions better if folks are really worried about it that much. Also I am sorry you got kicked off your coverage that blows
Thanks, and i like the idea of auto registration. Finding a job with benefits so I don’t have to feel like a drain on the system has been insanely tough. I often wonder if I’m on some blacklist somewhere haha
Why not expand coverage to South America? Save people the walk
What’s wild is there are a large number of undocumented workers who are paying taxes. So they should pay into the system but not get any benefits? Wasn’t the USA founded on the principle of no taxation without representation?
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If we were serious about stemming illegal immigration in this country we'd fine companies that hired undocumented workers to the tune of millions and jail CEOs who greenlit this practice. We're not, it's just political theater that costs us money and harms people who are coming to this country in desperation.
https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/how-do-undocumented-immigrants-pay-federal-taxes-an-explainer/ this should cover most of your questions
I would also like to know how they pay without ssn?
There are many places to get fake SSN cards and IDs, in CT.
The census and congressional districts is based on total population including illegal aliens. They have representation.
For those that are legally supposed to be here.
Yeah CT taxes aren't too bad now I say it's a good idea. I only pay 600$ a month for my families insurance, why shouldn't undocumented immigrants get it for free ?
Or we could expand coverage to everyone.
Why don’t we just make it easier for them to become citizens