I strongly disagree with Gov. Ned Lamont’s plan to bring managed care organizations (MCOs) back into our successful Medicaid program. Right now, Connecticut leads the nation in Medicaid cost control, access to care, and quality of care. All that would be at risk if MCOs come back.

MCOs are private insurance plans that run Medicaid programs for states. In 1996, then-Gov. John Rowland hired MCOs to run our Medicaid program, and it was a disaster. At the time I was a state representative, a dental provider to children covered by HUSKY, and a member of the state Medicaid oversight council. It was one of the most frustrating government failures I’ve ever witnessed. MCOs ran HUSKY until 2012, when Gov. Dannel Malloy finally ended the extremely expensive, harmful program.

Over those 16 dark years, providers fled the program, costs skyrocketed, and because the MCOs never gave us the data we needed, we couldn’t hold them accountable for anything. MCOs made a lot of promises they didn’t keep. They promised that HUSKY members would be able to get care from all the providers who took private insurance plans. In truth, 40% of the few providers on the MCOs lists didn’t take Medicaid patients. The state medical society filed a lawsuit against the Medicaid MCOs for deceptive and improper practices that harmed patient health.

Connecticut Medicaid leads the nation in cost control. We spend one-third of what other states spend on administration. If Connecticut spent as much on Medicaid as the average MCO state, the program would cost taxpayers $4 billion more — for nothing. The evidence is clear that MCOs don’t save money or improve access to care or quality. Our state has big needs — housing, public health, education. We can’t afford to waste $4 billion on middlemen that add no value.

I understand the question — most states use MCOs to run their Medicaid programs and we don’t. But if the governor was in state government when we struggled to hold MCOs accountable, he would recognize that reintroducing MCOs is a costly and dangerous idea.

I urge Governor Lamont to shelve the MCO idea and instead stand by our cost effective program that serves as a national model.

Vickie Orsini Nardello represented Connecticut’s 89th House District from 1994 to 2012.