E-mails Suggest Charter Oak Rushed

If e-mails published on Sunday are anything to go by, social services commissioner of Hartford had warned Gov. M Jodi Rell’s chief of staff in June against rushing to launch a new affordable health insurance program for the uninsured.

Department of Social Services Commissioner, Michael Starkowski, in his message to M Lisa Moody on June 4, had warned of the potential risks if the new health plan for uninsured adults was rushed before it was completely ready.

In his mail, Starkowski wrote: “Lisa, I am pushing as fast as I can on this but I am sure you agree that the last thing we want is for us to start the program and the managed care companies not have their network of providers signed up. I know we want to open as soon as possible with a splash and press coverage, but all the pieces have to be in place.” He further added, “I don’t want to open a program that embarrasses the governor, doesn’t meet her commitments, has fatal flaws at the start or gets shut down due to inadequacies.”

Obtained by The Day of New London under an open records request, these e-mails, come in the middle of concerns from state legislators that there’s been a delay in signing up doctors and the fact that only one Connecticut hospital has signed on to the new Charter Oak Health Plan network.

Coverage for this program, applications for which are being accepted since July 1, is supposed to begin in August. At the same time, 3 private insurance companies offering Charter Oak coverage are taking initiatives to enrol more medical providers to fill out the plan’s network.

According to Starkowski, the main issue has been hospitals due to reluctance of some facilities to sign up; concerned they might incur monetary losses by accepting patients covered by Charter Oak.

Sheldon V Toubman, an attorney with the New Haven Legal Assistance Association was quoted as saying, “All the things that (Starkowski) expressed concern about occurring if they went too fast seem like they’re about to actually happen.”