This story is part of CT Mirror Explains, an ongoing effort to distill our wide-ranging reporting into a "what you need to know" format and provide practical information to our readers.

Gov. Ned Lamont has made health care affordability a cornerstone of his policy agenda. In his reelection campaign launch and during his State of the State address, he touted a long-term goal to develop what he’s calling the “Connecticut option” — a health plan that would bring universal, affordable health care to the state.

What would the Connecticut option offer and when could residents enroll? Here’s everything you need to know about what’s been proposed so far.

How would it work?

This session, Lamont proposed legislation that would direct the state Office of Policy and Management to study the feasibility of a “Connecticut option.” The bill states that the plan would be designed by the state, but run by private insurers. 

Small businesses, nonprofits and individuals would be able to purchase the coverage. Lamont said the state will aim to make insurance more affordable by creating a “preferred network” of providers that offer high-quality, low-cost care, and then incentivizing plan participants to go see them for care.

That network would probably start with the state’s own University of Connecticut Health Center, as well as Waterbury Hospital — its newest acquisition, Lamont said. But, eventually, the state would negotiate a cap on the cost of care with any hospitals willing to come to the table, he added.

“A big piece of what the Connecticut option is about is paying for high-quality, low-cost care, and drawing people towards those networks,” Sean Scanlon said. As state comptroller, Scanlon runs the state employee health plan. He’s also playing a leading role in the development of the Connecticut option. 

Scanlon said the broad structure currently conceived for the Connecticut option is a “cousin” of the Colorado option program, which launched in 2023. A study published in January 2026 found that the program has, in many cases, offered residents lower premiums for similar coverage when compared with non-Colorado option plans and 15% lower out-of-pocket costs on average.

Is Connecticut’s plan to create a public option?

Even though the state is still figuring out what the Connecticut option will be, Lamont is clear on one thing: It will not be a traditional “public option,” where the government administers the plan and bears the financial risk.

In 2019 and 2021, Scanlon, who served as co-chair of the Insurance Committee at the time, was part of an effort to propose legislation to launch a more traditional “public option” that would allow small businesses and nonprofits to buy into the state employee health plan. (Similar legislation was proposed in 2020, but COVID cut the legislative session short). In 2021, Lamont effectively killed the effort when he threatened to veto the bill if it passed the General Assembly.

In the case of the Connecticut option, the state would design the plan, but a private company — or companies — would run it, meaning the state wouldn’t bear the risk if people end up getting more frequent or higher-cost care.

“This is privately managed. They take the risk, not the taxpayers,” Lamont said.

When would this new option take effect?

Not for a few years, at least. 

If Lamont’s bill to look into a Connecticut option passes this session, Scanlon said the state would spend the rest of the year studying the details of what the Connecticut option should look like, including researching what other states have done. 

The aim would be to propose legislation in 2027 with a “fully baked and studied plan” for the Connecticut option.