No Consensus On Health Care Pool

A panel of state health care, business and political leaders organized by the Connecticut General Assembly almost two years ago issued its final report last week, but members admitted they could not come to a consensus on the most contentious issue — pooling.

The HealthFirst Connecticut Authority’s report said the 10-person voting board could not reach an agreement on whether the state employee pool should be opened to other groups and individuals, a plan that closely mirrors House Speaker Chris Donovan’s Healthcare Partnership bill that Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed last year.

The Hartford Business Journal reported in February that the vote on the report’s final draft was pushed back a month in hopes that voting members could reach a consensus.

The Connecticut Business & Industry Association, which strongly opposed Donovan’s proposal last year, hailed the panel for not recommending a pooling plan.

The HealthFirst group reached consensus on less-controversial issues, such as promoting electronic medical records, data management and improving preventive and primary care.

Lt. Gov Michael Fedele and Stamford Hospital CEO Brian Grissler were the only two members to vote against the final report.

Donovan said he will bring the pooling bill back this year and is working on a plan with Fedele. Even if Rell vetoed the plan again this year, many believe that Donovan could push through his pooling bill with a super majority of Democrats in the Legislature.

Ticket Flap Resolved 

Ticketmaster may have settled with New Jersey over the Bruce Springsteen ticket flap, but Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is still on the case.

More than 2,000 people in New Jersey and many in Connecticut complained Ticketmaster redirected customers to its more expensive subsidiary TicketsNow, when they tried to purchase Springsteen tickets on Feb. 5. TicketsNow reportedly charged some people hundreds more than face value.

Under the New Jersey settlement reached last week, Ticketmaster will hold a random drawing of 1,000 tickets for the more than 2,000 who issued complaints, and Ticketmaster is banned from linking ticket sales to TicketsNow for at least a year.

Blumenthal said in a press release that his office will review the settlement and see if complaints raised by Connecticut consumers have been satisfied.