That cant work because poor and sick people will just move to places that have universal care and bankrupt those places. It must be national.

Man, if we stopped spending so much money on trying to ban legal firearms and make hundreds of thousands of CT citizens felons, we could probably afford this no problem

Grew up in the "Mental" as these youngsters call it, I still call it Middletown, also known as "home", and i've traveled the world, and while although I do find myself constantly wanting to move out west, California to be exact, I don't jump right to it for the simple fact that I will most likely find myself back in Connecticut. There's something about New England's spring time and autumn that you just can't experience anywhere else. Plus I now live in East Haddam minutes outside of Salmon River Valley, and it's freakin beautiful in the valley. Great fishing, one of the last places you can enjoy off-roaring without people breaking your balls, and of course the serenity of the great outdoors. I think that's what keeps me here. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

Take it a step further; insurance should be for things that may happen. That's what the entire business model is supposed to be based on.

But everyone gets sick/injured at some point. There's no "may" about it.

Yup. Capitalism run rampant. Corporate greed/greed led to this. I’m glad the non profit exists to help, but it sucks that they’re necessary in the first place.

Anything for votes

I didn’t live in ct (I live in the south) but I stayed in Connecticut for a good bit and unfortunately had to come back to continue high school a while back. I am for sure planning to move to Connecticut soon though, the feeling of Connecticut is very comforting and it’s beautiful there

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No one has rights to other people's labor.

The closer the government the more accountable to its constituents. State level healthcare is on the same population scale as most other healthcare systems around the world.

To get right down to it I'd rather just have it at the municipal level.

Democrats refuse to actually fix something in a way that would hurt their corporate donors.

Republicans just ensure that the poor people can't afford anything ever.

Can we get a third party now?

Or get the torches and pitchforks out until citizens united is overturned?

Eh. But then you will have red states refusing it and gutting it like they did with the Medicaid expansion. This whole “the states do it better” schlock needs to die when it comes to stuff like human rights. Healthcare is a human right.

What are you trying to say? Between your wording and misuse of commas, I’m lost.

There's a surplus they can use, hundreds of thousands isn't much for gov, and, and this is the important thing, the amount that this will generate cannot be ignored.

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Except the root cause of the problem is never addressed

Am doctor. completely agree. Great recent JAMA article on the subject. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801097

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I'm sure the thousands of people with medical debt would rather wait a decade to reform the healthcare system than have relief now /s. A win is a win and we can celebrate it while still pushing for the root cause to be addressed.

He's turning this state into a cold California we're so fucked

What I mean is with Lamont’s proposal, hospitals/collectors would be giving a 90% discount on debts owed. $20 Million to pay off $2 Billion.

With student loans and financial aid, the college isn’t giving a discount.

What do you mean there is a discount with Pell? If the student brings $5k in Pell Grants to the university, their student account is credited $5k and not a penny more.

Yes, student loans have probably caused tuition inflation. But the government wiping out medical debt at a 90% discount is definitely…a discount. Not really a good comparison.

I think this is fine, however there should be some additional caveats attached.

First, this doesn’t do anything to address the underlying issues in terms of how people are getting into this medical debt in the first place. There needs to be change around how medical systems and providers determine costs for the uninsured / underinsured.

Second, participants in the program should have to agree to regular, preventative care. The state should help them access that care and if needed, provide some financial support. Often times, large medical debt is incurred because conditions have spiraled out of control requiring significant intervention. By having these individuals access preventative care, conditions can be spotted earlier and intervention and treatment can occur, usually leading to lower costs to provide care.

Enough with the goddamn bandaids; fix our healthcare system!

I already pay a boat load in taxes. There’s only so much people can take before we say it’s time to go.

Oh cool. This is inspiring me to go biking up there