The Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut launched SustiNet, its proposal to ensure that everybody in the state has high quality health care that is also portable and affordable. The plan's name, SustiNet, is the latin word for sustain, and was chosen in part because it is a key word in the Connecticut State Motto, but mostly because good health will sustain the people of Connecticut and bolster our economy.

SustiNet Overview

A 7-minute video overview of the SustiNet proposal for
health care we can count on.

SustiNet was developed over the course of two years with the input of Connecticut residents, policymakers, businesses, health care workers, organized labor, clergy and consumer advocates. It addresses not only the need to increase and improve access and affordability of health care, but the shortfalls of our current health care delivery system. It does this by proposing that every patient have a "medical home" to help coordinate care and encourage healthy lifestyle changes; by having clinicians play a more significant role in determining the standards of care; and by implementing standardized electronic medical records.

SustiNet does not seek to replace private health insurers, but to compete with them. The SustiNet plan does not have mandatory enrollment, and so those who are happy with their current health benefits may keep them. However, the plan makes enrollment automatic and easy for the uninsured. The SustiNet plan provides all of the benefits commonly included with employer sponsored coverage, including mental and dental health. Individual costs (premiums and co-pays) are subsidized on a sliding scale based on income, and any resident who applies will be accepted, regardless of pre-existing conditions.