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Office of Health Strategy defends insurance‑fund allocations, Connie HIE accounting and new enforcement roles in proposed budget
Summary
OHS Director Deidre Gifford told the appropriations subcommittee that a budget increase for health‑information exchange activity reflects a federal reclaim that will be credited to the insurance fund, and she described proposed new staffing to implement notice‑of‑material‑change reviews and out‑of‑network price monitoring.
Deidre Gifford, executive director of the Office of Health Strategy (OHS), briefed the Appropriations subcommittee on her agency’s budget and several policy proposals included in the governor’s package.
Gifford said a roughly $1.1 million change in the insurance‑fund line for health information exchange (Connie) reflects a change in budgeting and federal reclaiming; she said the full amount will be reclaimed from federal sources and credited back to the insurance fund, making the line increase effectively revenue‑neutral.
Lawmakers pressed OHS on broader policy choices
Several committee members asked OHS to explore moving certain staff and operating costs from the insurance fund back to the general fund. Senator Austin asked for a plan to shift positions such as a proposed deputy commissioner and senior director for health equity out of the insurance fund if feasible, arguing personnel services are typically general‑fund items.
New regulatory and consumer protections
Gifford and staff outlined two staffing changes tied to pending proposals:
• Notice of material change review: the governor’s bill would create a joint pathway for the attorney general and OHS to review significant health‑care transactions that currently face limited regulatory review. OHS said new positions would support technical review, conditions on transactions and monitoring compliance when the attorney general sought technical expertise.
• Out‑of‑network price limit monitoring: a separate proposal to cap out‑of‑network charges would require OHS to collect data, produce an annual report and ensure insurers reflect savings in rate filings. Gifford described five proposed positions to carry out data intake, analysis and reporting functions.
Connie and HIT funding
Sumit Satchnani, OHS’s health IT officer, said the Connecticut Health Information Exchange (Connie) now connects thousands of organizations and exchanges clinical data and patient alerts at scale. The insurance‑fund line in OHS’s budget includes federal matching reimbursements tied to HIE activity; OHS said the net impact to the insurance fund is the result of accounting treatments and will be offset by federal reclaim.
Follow‑up: OHS agreed to provide the subcommittee with line‑level detail showing total HIE costs, the federal reclaim schedule and a breakdown of the positions currently funded from the insurance fund versus general fund to support a shift of personnel costs where appropriate.
Ending: Gifford said OHS is prepared to implement the new notice‑of‑material‑change and out‑of‑network monitoring roles but will return with specifics on staffing, federal reclaiming and the potential reclassification of personnel costs from the insurance fund to the general fund.
