By State Senator Tony Hwang
No transparency. No predictability. A rigged game. A broken system.
These are some of the thoughts that crossed my mind as I entered a Hartford hearing room June 14 to testify – yet again – against outrageous, unaffordable, and unacceptable double digit health insurance rate hike proposals.
Imagine: A 33.8 percent rate hike? Or, how about a 17.5 percent rate hike?
Then imagine those hikes coming ON TOP of all the past hikes which have risen more than 100+ percent in recent years.
The Affordable Care Act has proven to be anything but affordable.
So there I was, in an obscure 7th floor office building in the middle of a work day in June.
I was one of the few members of the public in attendance.
You see, the people I represent oppose these unaffordable and unfair annual rate hikes, but they cannot afford to take a day off to drive to Hartford and speak their minds.
I brought the anti-rate hike comments I have received at Tony.Hwang@cga.ct.gov and submitted their comments directly to the Insurance Department.
In my testimony, I told state insurance regulators and insurance company executives that unpredictable health insurance rate hikes year after year are hurting middle class families and small businesses in Connecticut.
I told them how people are frustrated and angry.
I told them people feel the deck is stacked against Connecticut consumers.
I noted how this has been a wild and unsettling roller coaster ride of rate increases without any sense of predictability. These huge rate increases are unsustainable, the reasons given for the increases are weak and disguised in complex legal speak, and even garnering basic information about the public hearing required dedication, persistence and time.
Don’t like the sound of 33.8 percent rate hikes? Me either.
Want the transparent state government you deserve? Me too.
You can still submit your comments on these unaffordable rate hikes until July 1.
Submit testimony at http://www.ct.gov/cid/cwp/view.asp?a=4059&Q=585260 or access the link via SenatorHwang.com.
Or you can send me your comments directly to me at Tony.Hwang@cga.ct.gov .
Your submissions can be as brief as you like.
These rate hikes are tax hikes on you, your business, and your families.
I thank you in advance for joining me in this very worthy David vs. Goliath fight.
Raise your voices today: otherwise 33.8 percent may one day seem to be a “minor” rate increase.
*Sen. Hwang represents Easton, Fairfield, Newtown, Weston and Westport. On the web: www.SenatorHwang.com
