Policymaker Issue Briefs
No. 5
January, 2003

HUSKY Parents In Context

How much do HUSKY parents cost? Relatively little. Adults in Medicaid represent 21% of enrollees but consume only 7% of the program's budget. How much of those costs does the state pay? Half. The federal government reimburses Connecticut for half the costs of caring for all Medicaid recipients, including HUSKY parents. This means that for every $2 in HUSKY cuts, the state only saves $1.

If these parents are cut off, how will they access health care?

With difficulty. They will join the hundreds of thousands of Connecticut's uninsured. HUSKY parents have incomes below $ 27,150 for a family of four. Very few have an offer of coverage from their employer and even fewer will be able to afford it. They will be forced to 

• delay care until a health issue becomes more serious and more costly to treat 
• pay far more out of pocket for that care 
• access care inappropriately, such as in hospital emergency rooms 
• we will all pay for it in higher health care costs and premiums

Will this affect their children, even though they retain HUSKY?

Of course it will. Parents and children do not have separate bank accounts. The extra costs will be borne by the entire family, coming out of family budgets for basic necessities and any savings for college or a home.

Also, raising children is hard work. Anything that compromises the health of parents affects their children. Healthy children need healthy parents.

Bottom line: Covering HUSKY parents is cost-effective support for Connecticut's working families

Sources: Health Care Financing Review, Statistical Supplement 2000 with FFY 1998 data, Health Insurance is a Family Matter, Institute of Medicine, 2002