Date: Fri 14-Jul-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: CAROLK

Quick Words:

a14-Wasserman-health-comment

Full Text:

COMMENTARY

WASSERMAN

LEGISLATION ADDRESSES MANY HEALTH ISSUES

Much has been said and written about the accomplishments of the 1995 session

of the General Assembly. The five-month session, which adjourned June 7, was

indeed productive, enacting a state budget that controls spending and reduces

taxes and major initiatives addressing pressing problems such as welfare and

crime.

The General Assembly considers many, many bills during each regular session.

Because of the sheer volume, it can be easy to overlook some of the major

actions that have been taken during the session or to focus attention on only

one aspect of a bill that may address a number of important issues. Such has

been the case this year concerning Senate Bill 1164, which is the bill that

provides for the closing of Fairfield Hills Hospital in Newtown. This

legislation has been signed by the Governor and is known as Public Act 95-257.

As would be expected, the focus of attention on this bill by the residents and

legislators from our area was the closing of Fairfield Hills. However, this

legislation does far more than just lay out the plan for closing this

hospital, or, for that matter, the closing of Norwich Hospital and

consolidation of the services provided by these two facilities at Connecticut

Valley Hospital in Middletown.

Senate Bill 1164 is also the legislation that provides for the structural

reorganization of the state agencies responsible for public health matters and

for the treatment of mental health and substance abuse. The legislation

establishes a new Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, moving

the responsibility for substance abuse programs from the Department of Public

Health and Addiction Services, which will now be known simply as the

Department of Public Health.

Taxpayers will realize significant savings by the passage of this legislation

through the closing of Fairfield Hills and Norwich hospitals as well as

through the other provisions. Government reorganization and the consolidation

of agencies can achieve savings by reducing overlapping bureaucracy and

administrative costs while improving the efficiency of the services and

programs they offer. In the case of this legislation, the new organizational

structure is more appropriate and as such will improve the focus and

effectiveness of the programs involved.

The new Department of Public Health, like the state health departments that

preceded it, is responsible for matters such as public health policy, data

collection, dissemination of information regarding communicable diseases and

other health matters and the coordination of public health efforts by state

agencies and local health districts or health departments. Its functions range

from oversight of what may be the foremost cancer/tumor registry in the United

States to the testing of water supplies and regulation of hospital charges and

the medical professions.

The Department of Mental Health, on the other hand, is a treatment agency. It

provides direct care to individuals and promotes preventive measures. The

focus of our addiction services also is on treatment and prevention. Common

sense dictates that these functions and their common approaches be placed

together rather than relegating either to a secondary position in another

agency with an entirely different and unrelated mission. The new structure

outlined in Senate Bill 1164 allows the state to achieve the savings possible

by consolidating the bureaucratic and administrative functions of mental

health and addiction services while sharpening our focus on the programs they

provide and the people they serve.

Another important aspect of Senate Bill 1164 are the changes it makes to the

state's Office of Health Care Access. This agency was established just last

year and essentially charged with taking the lead in the effort to assure

health coverage for all state residents. I strongly agreed with the need for

this agency and voted for the legislation establishing it despite my strong

opposition to the unnecessary and very costly bureaucracy that was envisioned

at the time. One year later I am pleased to report that my concerns have been

addressed in Senate Bill 1164. The Office of Health Care Access is retained

along with its very necessary functions yet with substantially less

bureaucracy and at a substantially lower cost than first planned.

As you can see, Senate Bill 1164 is a comprehensive piece of legislation that

deals with many important and distinct issues. I hope this overview of the

legislation is helpful. If you have any questions about this legislation or

would like more information, please feel free to contact me. Write to me at

Room 4200, Legislative Office Building, Hartford, CT 06106-1591 or call my

office toll-free at 1-800-842-1423. TDD users call 240-0161.