SUPPORT THE EMPLOYEE

HEALTH SECURITY ACT

SENATE BILL 1147

Connecticut’s Proposal for

Corporate Healthcare Responsibility

§         Level the playing field for employers who provide health care but must compete with those that do not.

§         Expand access to affordable health coverage for an low and moderate wage workers.

§         Ensure that large corporations are contributing their fair share to the health security of their employees.

§         To recover money from large employers that are insuring their employers at taxpayer expense through HUSKY A.

What does the Employee Health Security Act do

§        As of 1/1/2006, establishes a Health Security Surcharge (HSS) for all companies with 5,000 employees not providing health coverage to their workers.

§        As of 1/1/2007, requires that employers with 5,000 employees:

o       Provide proof of health care coverage that is substantially      equivalent to the state employee health plan or costs what the state pays for its employees OR

o       Pay into a newly procured HUSKY W plan through the Dept. of Social Services for their eligible employees to get health coverage.

WHY WE NEED THE

EMPLOYEE HEALTH SECURITY ACT

§        Approximately 284,000 the 356,000 uninsured people in Connecticut are employed;

§        Employer sponsored health coverage in CT decreased from 66% to 64% in 2004;

§        Sixty one percent of residents in a poll conducted by the Universal Health Care Foundation support imposing a surcharge on businesses which do not provide full health insurance to their employees;

§        Sixty nine percent of residents in this poll support requiring businesses to provide health insurance  to employees;

§        Because companies like Walmart put other employers at an unfair disadvantage by choosing profits over people;

§        Last year alone, the state of CT paid $20 millions for over 20,000 workers and family members from Walmart, Stop & Shop, Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonalds and Laidlaw.  Why? Because these companies wages are so low that their employees sought public health assistance to insure their families and yet their profits in 2004 topped $320 billion dollars!;

§        There is a growing trend of even large companies becoming less likely to provide benefits; 

§        Those companies that do provide benefits are shifting more and more of the costs onto their employees;

§        More residents join the ranks of the uninsured as fewer employees are able to afford to pay the rising premiums, co-pays and deductibles;

For more information contact  Beverley Brakeman 860-803-6666 or Gretchen Vivier 860-798-3280.

, Health Care For All,  CT Health Policy Project, CT AFL CIO, SEIU State Council, Working Families Party

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