CT Prepares For Medicaid/HUSKY Changes

by Jamil Ragland

HARTFORD, CT – The message from the advocates, state officials and elected leaders who gathered at the Legislative Office Building Thursday morning was clear: changes are coming to Medicaid/HUSKY, so the state needs to step in and residents need to be ready to advocate for themselves.

Advocates celebrated the 61st anniversary of the launch of Medicaid, known as HUSKY in Connecticut, even as state residents who depend on the program face uncertainty as steep cuts to the program begin later this year as a result of changes passed to several social welfare programs under the One Big Beautiful Bill passed last year.

Andrea Barton Reeves, commissioner of the Department of Social Services (DSS), stressed to residents that they should check their eligibility for Medicaid/HUSKY by visiting the state’s prescreener site to see if eligibility changes will affect them.

She said her office is struggling with the “moral dilemma” of being required to uphold federal law that will negatively impact so many Connecticut residents. 

“One of the most difficult conversations you can have is to tell someone there is no way to fix this,” she said of the looming cuts. “This is the law. It is the way that it is. And while we wish it were different, we’re trying to do our best to make sure that we minimize the impact as much as we can.”

State Rep. Jane Garibay, D-Windsor, speaks in front of a coalition of advocates and state officials about the importance of Medicaid/HUSKY on its 61st anniversary. Credit: Jamil Ragland

The changes to Medicaid/HUSKY will occur in two phases. In October, non-citizen access to Medicaid/HUSKY will be severely restricted. Non-citizen and non-legal permanent residents who once qualified for Medicaid/HUSKY such as refugees, asylees, trafficking victims, humanitarian parolees and victims of domestic violence will no longer qualify for assistance. 

Next January, Medicaid will introduce work requirements for the first time. Individuals covered under Medicaid/Husky Part D, which includes 19-64-year-olds without dependents, will need to show at least 80 hours of work, community service, or a qualified work training or education program. Additionally, Medicaid/Husky Part D individuals will be required to complete a new renewal for benefits every six months instead of once a year.

A recent report by the RAND Corporation predicts that these changes will cost Connecticut billions of dollars and lead to an enrollment decline of more than 10% by 2034. 

State Rep. Jane Garibay, a Windsor Democrat who co-chairs the Aging Committee, said the landmark legislation that went into effect 61 years ago today, creating Medicaid and several other social welfare programs as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society initiative, is at risk due to the “cruelty and cuts” made to the program by the One Big Beautiful Bill. 

“Advocates, lawmakers, Governor Lamont, state leaders, we all need to work together with our state agencies to make sure that our families do not lose their healthcare,” she said. “We have a lot of asks right now. There are a lot of different populations hurting and a lot of needs within our state with many of the different cuts that have been happening, but we have to prioritize.”

Speakers at the Medicaid/HUSKY birthday rally came forward to show that real people are behind the dollar signs and statistics. Tenaya Taylor, executive director of the Nonprofit Accountability Group, shared the story of how Medicaid/HUSKY saved her life after a devastating motorcycle accident when she was a child.

A birthday cake to celebrate the 61st anniversary of Medicaid. Credit: Jamil Ragland

“Because of HUSKY Health and Medicaid, I had access to the care that I needed, which consisted of countless doctor’s appointments, a lengthy hospital stay, surgeries, wheelchairs, walkers, physical therapy, medications, and ongoing treatment,” she said. “Those services gave me the chance to recover, grow up, and build a life. I truly believe I would not be standing here without Medicaid.”

Coralys Santana, campaign manager at The Connecticut Project, shared stories of people who have reached out to her organization who depend on Medicaid/HUSKY to cover the birth of a child, for assistance after losing a job, and after a spouse was diagnosed with brain cancer. She said these stories represent the more than 900,000 people on Medicaid/HUSKY in Connecticut, a third of whom are children.

“Tens of thousands of Connecticut residents in every part of our state are at risk of losing HUSKY coverage in the next year because of federal cuts and changes,” she said. “In some Connecticut towns, one in ten residents are at risk of losing their HUSKY. Connecticut didn’t create the problem, but our state must protect people’s healthcare now.”

Tom Swan, executive director of the Connecticut Citizens Action Group, said that it was pressure on Gov. Ned Lamont and the General Assembly that led them to allocate extra state funding to support Medicaid/HUSKY last year, and that the time has come to pressure leaders for universal health care. 

“We’ve been close before, but what’s happening now because of [the Big Beautiful Bill] proves it more than ever,” he said. “We need universal healthcare. Let’s stop messing around.”