© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Tong, Lembo Oppose Connecticut Health Insurance Rate Hikes

State Comptroller Kevin Lembo.
Chion Wolf
/
WNPR
State Comptroller Kevin Lembo.

Connecticut Comptroller Kevin Lembo and Attorney General William Tong urged state regulators to reject health insurance rate hikes for next year. Regulators are to hold a public hearing on the rate hikes Tuesday.

Eleven insurers in Connecticut are asking for rate hikes that range from 8.6% to 12.9% for individual and small group plans in 2022.

Attorney General Tong said the rate hikes are not justified during a pandemic.

“For the last year and a half we’ve opposed rate increases by our state utilities, we’ve opposed rate increases by broadband providers. I know that the Comptroller feels very strongly about that as well,” Tong said.

The insurance providers claim that they need the hikes because of a rising demand for medical services and the higher cost of prescription drugs. They also said they expect to handle more claims next year because of the delay of medical care during the pandemic.

Comptroller Kevin Lembo urged state regulators to reject the hikes.

“They are excessive by any objective measure. And we are happy to put our utilization data for regulators to compare theirs to ours and figure out what they are doing wrong,” Lembo said.

Lembo supports a state-run public health insurance option. It failed to be adopted in the last legislative session.

Copyright 2021 WSHU. To see more, visit WSHU.

As WSHU Public Radio’s award-winning senior political reporter, Ebong Udoma draws on his extensive tenure to delve deep into state politics during a major election year. In addition to providing long-form reports and features for WSHU, he regularly contributes spot news to NPR, and has worked at the NPR National News Desk as part of NPR’s diversity initiative.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Related Content