Connecticut Hospital Association Speaks Out Against Proposed 3.25% Hospital Tax

Jennifer Jackson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Hospital Association, urged the state's Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee to avoid imposing a 3.25 percent tax on hospital gross revenues, saying such a tax would "only serve to increase costs to consumers and employers and harm hospitals struggling to care for increasing numbers of uninsured patients and patients with government-sponsored coverage," according to a CHA news release.

Ms. Jackson testified that the tax would be "potentially devastating" to struggling hospitals already facing difficult economic challenges, according to the release. She also urged the legislature to use Medicaid relief funds, allocated through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to prevent additional cuts to the program and to cover the increase patients enrolled in Medicaid and state-sponsored programs. According to the release, Connecticut's relief will total $1.74 billion over the course of 27 months, which includes an increase in the federal match rate from 50 percent to 61.59 percent.

"Taxing hospitals is the wrong prescription for Connecticut. Instead of a new healthcare tax, which hurts consumers, employers and hospitals, let's work together and use the enhanced federal Medicaid match to maintain eligibility and coverage, bring provider rates closer to covering the real cost of care and contribute to balancing the state budget," Ms. Jackson said in the release.

Read the CHA's release on the Connecticut hospital tax (pdf).