Connecticut defers high-risk pool decision after getting premium projections

Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell is rethinking her decision to have her state run its high-risk insurance pool after a consultant suggested people with pre-existing conditions would have to pay elevated premiums to participate. In a letter sent Thursday to the heads of the state's insurance and health departments, Rell asks that they defer executing the contract with the federal government until they review the rates and determine whether Connecticut residents would get a better deal if the federal government ran the show.

"My impression of these rates is that they may well place our federally-funded high risk pool program beyond the reach of ordinary Connecticut citizens with pre-existing conditions," Rell writes. "This is contrary to the intent (of the healthcare reform law); and contrary to my administration's goal of providing access to affordable health care coverage."

The rates projected by the consulting firm Milliman found that adults under the age of 30 would have to pay $436 a month, with rates increasing as people got older. Rell has asked for the department heads' recommendation by close of business on July 15.

Rell's letter was first reported by CTMirror.com.