Malloy unsure if state could impose insurance mandate if feds can’t
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday that no one should count on his administration’s adopting an individual health insurance mandate for the state if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the federal health reform law.
Speaking during a press availability, Malloy was responding to a question posed about a Mirror story about whether the administration would consider a state-level mandate that people have health insurance if the federal law’s mandate were ruled unconstitutional. Jeannette DeJesús, the governor’s special adviser on health reform, told Mirror Washington reporter Ana Radelat Thursday that while she’s confident the federal law will be found constitutional, “all options are on the table,” including the mandate, if it’s struck down.
Malloy elaborated Friday.
“Everything’s on the table,” he said. “But if you’re asking whether I’m proposing a state mandate, I am not proposing a mandate at this time and I’m not sure that we would ever do it.”
The governor added that if the Supreme Court ruled that the mandate was unconstitutional, “We would have to look at this, but I’m not sure that there’s anything in our state Constitution that would get us around that.”
