Matthew Lucibello via Wikimedia Commons

On Jan. 22, Comptroller Sean Scanlon released the 2025 Comptroller’s Healthcare Cabinet Report, outlining 37 policy recommendations aimed at improving healthcare affordability, access, and workforce development in Connecticut. 

The report highlights rising healthcare costs, workforce shortages and barriers to access, with increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates identified as the top priority. The recommendations include scholarships for healthcare professionals, a mental health insurance scorecard and expanded Medicaid coverage for undocumented residents up to age 26. The report is expected to inform legislative discussions during the current session.

“The 2025 Healthcare Cabinet Report is more than just policy ideas—it’s a roadmap to meaningful change” Scanlon said in a statement. “This year’s report builds on our progress to address Connecticut’s biggest healthcare challenges—focusing on affordability, access, and workforce development.”

Healthcare costs and affordability challenges 

According to the report, Connecticut ranks ninth in the nation for per capita healthcare spending, averaging $12,500 per resident compared to the national average of $10,000. Residents have seen insurance premiums, the amount of money an individual pays to their insurance company every month to keep it active, increase by 41 percent between 2014 and 2023, while hospitals and prescription drug costs remain among the highest in the country.

To address these rising costs, the Healthcare Cabinet’s primary recommendation is increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates, the amount of money a state pays for Medicaid-covered services. The report argues that low reimbursement rates discourage providers from accepting Medicaid patients, leading to longer wait times and increased reliance on emergency rooms for primary care. 

“If you can’t go see a doctor when you have a sore throat, you wait and wait — until you end up in the ER,” Scanlon said. “That costs two or three times more than if you had been seen in a primary care setting.”

Increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates, the report argues, is expected to expand provider participation, reduce wait times and alleviate financial strain on hospitals treating uninsured and underinsured patients. 

Addressing workforce shortages

The shortage of healthcare workers is another critical issue highlighted in the report. Connecticut faces growing gaps in primary care, nursing and mental health services, particularly in rural and underserved communities. 

One proposed solution is expanding the Health Horizons program, which currently provides funding for nursing and social work scholarships. The report recommends broadening it to include pharmacists, lab technicians and other essential healthcare roles. 

“Instead of paying off your loans after school, what can we do to assist you to stay in school or to go to school now? And that’s sort of the way that I look at this.” Scanlon suggested. 

Additionally, the report proposes financial incentives for professionals who commit to practicing in rural or high-need areas. 

Mental health insurance scorecard

One proposal from the mental health subcommittee was the creation of a mental health parity compliance scorecard. This scoreboard would make essential information for receiving mental healthcare easily available for each government and commercial insurance plan offered in Connecticut — including Medicaid and Medicare.

The scorecard would contain the total amount reimbursed for mental health services by each insurance plan, an evaluation of each plan’s adherence to mental health parity laws, consumer complaints and the geographic distribution of providers in each plan’s network. 

“With transparency comes accountability,” said Maria Countant Skinner, CEO of the McCall Behavioral Health Network and co-chair of the mental health subcommittee. “If we are an informed citizenry and informed consumers, then we get to make choices about who our healthcare providers are and who insures us.”

In addition to empowering consumers, implementation of the scorecard would increase accountability among insurance providers and inform regulatory policy decisions, according to Skinner.

Women’s health and reproductive care

The women’s subcommittee focused on supporting those building families by reducing cost of care, proposing permanent child tax credit and Medicaid reforms.

In addition to the reports’ general recommendation for increased Medicaid reimbursement, the subcommittee proposed that Medicaid extend coverage to include diaper costs and expand the current policy of covering all children up to age 15 below the qualifying income limit, regardless of immigration status, to all individuals below 26.

The women’s subcommittee also proposed laws protecting the current medical standard of fertility health care coverage which is inclusive of LGBTQ+ and single individuals, as well as protecting healthcare providers in institutions offering emergency pregnancy-related care and gender-affirming healthcare.

Legislative and federal considerations 

The women’s subcommittee’s recommendations to protect reproductive and fertility health care came in light of recent federal actions threatening both those seeking and providing care. 

“We know that there are threats coming, not just to reproductive health care providers, but health care providers and agencies, from the federal government. It’s up to our state lawmakers to take meaningful action,” Gretchen Raffa, chief policy and advocacy officer at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England and co-chair of the women’s subcommittee, said.

As the Connecticut General Assembly takes up these proposals, lawmakers will also need to navigate shifting federal healthcare policies, including potential changes to Medicaid funding, new pharmaceutical pricing rules, and ongoing debates over reproductive health regulations.

Scanlon emphasized the importance of ensuring that the recommendations laid out in the 2025 Healthcare Cabinet Report translate into real policy action.

“I didn’t want this to be a report that collects dust on the shelf. I wanted it to be a roadmap for legislators, for the governor, for policymakers — to hear from experts and then go out and do these things,” said Scanlon. 

The legislative session will be a critical period for determining how many of these proposals gain traction. Skinner and Raffa both expressed optimism towards the potential for passage of their proposals in the Connecticut legislature, with broad support from the legislature as well as the governor for increasing Medicaid rates. 

Beyond state-level decisions, advocates and policymakers are closely monitoring federal developments, particularly those related to Medicaid funding stability, reproductive healthcare regulations, and potential pharmaceutical pricing shifts.

Scanlon signaled his willingness to work with federal officials when possible but emphasized the importance of Connecticut taking its own steps to address healthcare challenges when needed.

“I am more than happy to work with Washington if we have a shared goal of lowering costs,” Scanlon said. “But if policies come out that raise prices — whether it’s Medicaid cuts or higher drug tariffs — I will speak up.”

Scanlon ran for comptroller in 2022.