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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: Two Paths to Health Insurance for More CT Families

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Friday, November 20, 2020   

HARTFORD, Conn. -- As policymakers gear up to write a state budget for the next two years, a new report has suggestions on how to expand health-care coverage to more families in Connecticut.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the Nutmeg State make too much to qualify for Husky Health but still can't afford to buy health insurance on the open market. Tiffany Donelson, president and chief executive of the Connecticut Health Foundation, said the group of people who are uninsured includes about 48,000 folks who make between $17,600 and $25,000 a year.

"The group is 13% of the Connecticut population," she said, "but yet they represent 26% of those who are uninsured in our state."

The report suggested expanding Husky Health to include people who make up to 200% of the poverty level. The federal government and the state would split the bill, with each paying half. The other suggestion made in the report is to put significant resources toward subsidies to help people afford to buy coverage on the state exchange, Access Health Connecticut.

Donelson said the pandemic has caused a big spike in poverty, so the safety net will need to be widened accordingly.

"We know that with COVID-19, we may see more individuals lose their coverage, may lose some of their wages," she said.

The state Office of Project Management currently is working to produce a budget proposal for 2022 through 2024, which will be debated once the Legislature is seated in January.


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