Stemerman will be more cooperative with Connecticut's hospitals

By Scott Benjamin

KENT – Republican gubernatorial contender David Stemerman says, if elected, he would not follow the “antagonistic approach” that departing Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Stamford) has had with Connecticut’s hospitals.

Stemerman asserts that the governor has become an enemy of both “the providers” and “the payers.”

“For our providers, he has taxed them in a way that is not the practice of almost any state in the country,” the former hedge fund manager from Greenwich said in an interview.

CT Mirror reported last year that in 2011 Malloy established a provider tax on the hospitals that was designed to generate more federal money so that in the end they would benefit.

The online news web site has stated that over time ‘the tax has grown and the supplemental payments have shrunk.”

CT Mirror reported last September that during the fiscal year that would conclude in June 2018 the hospitals would pay $556 million in taxes and get $117 million in supplemental payments. It stated that Malloy has said the economy has changed over the recent years and this is a national issue.

“Originally, he imposed a tax to get more money from the federal government, but now he’s kept all the money [for the state],” Stemerman said. “It’s a burden on our hospitals. It’s reduced their resources. I am concerned for our inner-city and our rural populations.”

“I will work with our hospitals to make sure that money is restored,” he said.

Malloy has been critical of the hospitals since taking office in 2011, telling WNPR in 2015 that “executive-level compensation at hospitals is spiraling out of control.”

The Connecticut Hospital Association has aired television and digital advertising against some of Malloy’s initiatives.

Additionally, Stemerman said the governor also has “demonized” the insurers.

“For our payers, he immediately kicked out the private sector management of our Medicaid system,” he said. “We’re one of the first states that doesn’t have the benefit of the innovation of the private sector to both reduce costs and improve the quality of care.”

Regarding the federal Affordable Care Act that former Democratic President Barack Obama signed in 2010, Stemerman said he agrees with the “goal of expanding access to care for everyone,” but believes that it “can be achieved much more effectively through the private sector.”

“The costs are so excessive as a consequence of the mandates at the federal level and some of the highest rates in the country at the state level,” he said regarding some of the soaring premiums.

“I believe in opening up competition for insurance across state lines,” said Stemerman. “This would be very valuable in lowering the costs of care.”

“I’m also in favor of re-instituting a safer risk pool for those with pre-existing conditions and high costs, so that can be separated from the rest of the insurance pool, so those costs go down,” he said of the federal legislation. “Those solutions are attainable.”

Stemerman, who entered the race last fall and petitioned his way onto the primary ballot, faces former Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst, technology executive Steve Obsitnik of Westport, former business executive Bob Stefanowski of Madison and Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, who garnered the convention endorsement in May, in the August 14 primary.

Stemerman has been endorsed by the Hartford Courant for the primary and the newspaper’s political columnist Kevin Rennie, a former state legislator, has stated that in 16 years of interviewing candidates he’s “not met with one smarter than Stemerman,” who has been noted for providing detailed plans on a raft of issues.

The Democratic primary that same day pits Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim against former U.S. Senate nominee Ned Lamont of Greenwich, who annexed the convention endorsement this spring.

Oz Griebel of Simsbury, the former President of the Metro Hartford Alliance, is seeking to petition his way on the ballot as an independent candidate

On another topic, Stemerman objected to Malloy’s juvenile criminal justice reforms in an effort to create a second-chance society.

Since taking office, the governor has gotten approval to raise the age for being considered adults from 16 to 18 and has sought to increase it to age 21.

CT Hearst reported in 2017 that Malloy has said that “low-risk young offenders should not be treated the same way as adult offenders. We need to set these youths on a better path toward a future that does not include criminality.”

“I do not believe that the governor has gotten this right,” said Stemerman. “The way he has handled juveniles in having the age increased – or the consequences for committing crimes, such as you can steal a car, which is a serious crime, and it is essentially now just a catch and release program.”

“This is causing an increased problem in our cities and surrounding communities” Stemerman said.

“I do believe that people should be given opportunities for a second chance and that when you’re in the criminal justice system that you have the opportunity to rehabilitate yourself,” the candidate said.

On a separate subject, Stemerman said he opposes the recommendation by the state Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Competition to gradually increase the state’s minimum wage from $10.10 to $15 an hour by 2022.

He said restaurant executives have told him that their “ability to employ people would be impaired” and that the owner of an IGA supermarket in Norwalk said he “might not be able to stay in business” if the minimum wage is boosted to $15 an hour.

On economic development, Stemerman said he has visited the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington where the Jackson Labs bio-science center is located and believes “the investment has tremendous potential.”

Malloy and the General Assembly approved $292 million in incentives in 2011 to attract the company to move from Maine. It opened operations in 2014.

“The whole area of life sciences and genomics gives us the potential to grow jobs and businesses,” Stemerman said.

Regarding energy, Stemerman said increasing “access to natural gas” would be a priority in his administration.

“It would both reduce the cost of energy to households and for businesses,” he said.

”The best way to lower costs is to increase access to natural gas,” said Stemerman. “In order to do that, we will need cooperation. Building a pipeline infrastructure with Massachusetts and New York State will be needed.”

Malloy introduced a major natural gas proposal in 2013, which met resistance from the heating oil industry.

On another issue, Stemerman said he supports Herbst’s recommendation to create an Office of Inspector General, a reform that former GOP state Senate leader John McKinney of Fairfield has long advocated. McKinney placed second in the 2014 Republican primary for governor.

“It’s a great idea,” said Stemerman. “It’s long overdue.”

He said the office would feature a group of forensic auditors.

McKinney has stated that the federal government has 57 inspector general offices with an annual budget of $1.9 billion and they saved during a recent fiscal year $9.9 billion from audit reviews and $6.8 billion in investigative recoveries.

Regarding higher education, Stemerman has said for months that he wants to have more options, including increased offerings at Charter Oak State College, the online division of the Board of Regents, as well as more opportunities for non-profit and for-profit enterprises.

He said in the interview that he wants to abolish the Board of Regents, which was established during Malloy’s first year in office. The board oversees Charter Oak, as well as the 12 public community colleges and the four state universities. The community colleges and state universities had been previously been governed by separate Boards of Trustees for decades.

“I’m not a fan of how we’re doing it now,” Stemerman said. “Nor do I think the way we were doing it before was the best solution. I would like to start with a blank sheet of paper and come up with the best solution.”

Boughton has called for site-based management in which the Board of Regents would be abolished and each of the public campuses would be governed by its own Board of Trustees. He has said the current structure is wasteful and redundant.

U.S. Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), who is seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, wrote in his recent book, “The Right Answer,” that if he captures the White House he would go unscripted before Congress every three months to answer questions.

Would Stemerman be willing to answer questions unscripted before the state House and the state Senate each at least once a year?

“I would be happy to do it at least that often,” he said.

Stemerman noted that the Prime Minister in Great Britain goes before his peers weekly.

He said, “I am quite comfortable in that environment.”