General Assembly- STALL!

As it now stands, the Senate has not yet acted on the bill (SB 552) that came out of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee that would convene a study committee concerning the benefits and costs of mandating insurance coverage for bariatric surgery. The Senate received the report on the bill from Legislative Commissioners' Office (File No. 512) but has not yet scheduled a vote on it. We need to be petitioning our state senators to get this bill to the floor for a vote. If you haven't already, please call and email your state senators and ask that they bring SB 552 to a vote. Admittedly, a study committee is a far cry from the insurance reform that is needed to save the lives of the morbidly obese-- however, this proposal represents at least a small step. Perhaps, if enough information is gathered, it will be increasingly difficult for the insurance industry to continue stonewalling this proposal. Also, the Public Health Committee bill that would have mandated the insurance coverage had been sent to the Insurance and Real Estate Committee which has not yet acted on it (and there is no guaranty that they will vote on it this session). However, there is always the potential that enough concerned members of the Committee can force the issue to a vote; if you would like a sample email to send to the members of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, please contact me ([email protected]) and I will forward it to you. Listen, this issued just doesn't effect prospective patients, but all of us as well. Insurance denials are causing many bariatric surgeons to consider leaving Connecticut entirely. Norwalk Hospital has already lost one surgeon who left the state so that he could continue his bariatric practice. Let's do what we can so that other surgeons who have dedicated their practices to helping us achieve our goals are not left in the same predicament. Thanks.