Connecticut is among the states in the forefront of expanding Medicaid coverage through its Husky Health program that offers health care to eligible children, parents, relative caregivers, elders, individuals with disabilities, adults without dependent children and pregnant women.
In May, the state legislature expanded Medicaid coverage to undocumented children 12 years old and younger whose guardians meet the qualifying income limit, but these benefits were not extended to undocumented adults. The program will begin on Jan. 1, 2023.
Earlier this year, the state further strengthened its abortion laws, which were already among the most comprehensive in the nation, extending protections for those who come to Connecticut from out of state to get abortion care, as well as to their providers.
Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with incumbent Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, who’s running for re-election this November. Here, he talks about the impact of federal funds on state climate policy and his thoughts on how to combat rising anti-democratic and authoritarian views among many Republicans.
Lamont begins by describing the state’s expansive healthcare coverage.
GOV. NED LAMONT: What we’ve done is we have eliminated all costs for any family earning less than about $70,000. On our Covered CT exchange program, you register there, what that means is not only is there no premium cost, but no co-pay, no deductibles as well. So we’re doing everything we can to broaden health care access for everybody.
MELINDA TUHUS: There’s been a campaign since Covid began to get the state to offer health coverage to all undocumented folks, so many of whom are essential workers, so it’s really an issue that affects all of us. I know undocumented children are covered, but what is your administration’s position on offering health coverage to all undocumented residents of any age?
GOV. NED LAMONT: Obviously, the feds don’t support anything as regards undocumented, but this is what we’ve done in Connecticut. We’ve if you’re ready to have a baby, whatever your documentation status is, we get a nurse to your home if you want it before birth and after birth. We provide coverage for everybody up to the age of 12, regardless of documentation status. And more importantly, we raised about $5 million during Covid to make sure that anybody undocumented had all the support they needed for health care – we did this privately – just to make sure that when it came to a primary care physician and getting that vaccination and that test – we were able to take care of everybody. So, it’s one step at a time, but I think we’re making real progress.
MELINDA TUHUS: Just so I’m clear, you’re saying private money was raised for any person of any age who’s undocumented who needs health care?
GOV. NED LAMONT: Yes. We raised about $5 million, really to get people introduced to a primary care doc, and a primary care doc was invaluable when it came to testing, when it came to vaccinations, doing everything we can to keep you safe during the pandemic.
MELINDA TUHUS: But when private funding runs out, do you think the state should treat low-income undocumented adults the same as low-income citizens in terms of health coverage?
GOV. NED LAMONT: Well, like I said, one step at a time. We’ve certainly increased folks who are eligible, just like we’ve done for scholarships at UConn and other places, making sure that everyone who’s born here or who comes here at a certain age gets that support that they need. We’ll continue to look at that and provide progress there.
MELINDA TUHUS: Gov. Ned Lamont, I wanted to raise a climate issue. The IRA – the Inflation Reduction Act – has some positive things and some negative things and I hope they don’t cancel each other out. There has been money coming into the states from last year’s Infrastructure bill and more will be coming in from the IRA. How is that affecting Connecticut’s efforts to transition to 100 percent clean energy, which I know in Connecticut includes nuclear energy, which many folks think we need to move away from?
GOV. NED LAMONT: It’s invaluable. Joe Biden has been the most environmental president in decades, maybe forever. What that meant in terms of the Infrastructure bill and now the Inflation Reduction Act. Our electric grid is almost all carbon-free now. We’ve got about another 10 percent to go, we’re moving to wind power over the next few years. That will get us to 97 percent or something carbon-free.
And that’s really important because our next step is to move our transportation sector carbon-free. That’s where most of the particulates, that’s where most of the global warming, that’s where most of the asthma-causing gases are affecting the social justice and livelihoods of kids living along I-95. There we are making big progress. That’s going to take a little longer; we’re moving toward electrification of the transportation system. Obviously charging stations all up and down our major thruways and even our not to major thruways, and I’d like to say in the course of the next 10 years or so, we’re going to be as close to a carbon-free state as you have in this country.
MELINDA TUHUS: Election deniers and anti-democratic Republican candidates are winning primary elections across the U.S. What in your view should pro-democracy citizens from any party be doing now to effectively combat the lies and alarming calls for political violence we’re hearing from many pro-Trump Republicans?
GOV. NED LAMONT: Don’t take democracy for granted! It’s fragile and it was really threatened by Donald Trump and a lot of his acolytes in the last cycle and election deniers are dangerous. Elections only work when people vote and they sign off on the verdict that was cast by the voters.
I think it’s so important – when we look at the secretary of state races across the country. You’ve got a fair number of those folks who are saying, I’m going to ignore the electors, I’m going to ignore the vote of the people, we’re going to try and play games with that. You cannot allow that to happen. I urge everyone, especially in those red and purple states where maybe they’re flirting with some of these election deniers – keep them out of the secretary of state’s office. You want an impartial judge there to make sure our democracy is pure.
For more information, visit Ned Lamont’s Re-Election Campaign website at nedlamont.com.
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