The Connecticut State Medical Society honored the two highest-ranking members of the Connecticut State Senate, President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Minority leader Len Fasano (R-North Haven) for their commitment and dedication to preserving and strengthening the practice of medicine in Connecticut for physicians and their patients.
Senator Looney and Senator Len Fasano co-created and co-chaired the Bipartisan Round Table on Hospitals and Health Care, established in 2014. The Round Table was formed to reach out to policy makers, health care providers, patients other stakeholders to monitor the implementation of recent legislation, discuss the rapid changes in the health care market and develop policy recommendations to help ensure continued access to affordable quality care in Connecticut.
More importantly, these two leaders sought the input and involvement of CSMS every step of the way, listening to physician concerns and gaining an understanding of the difficulties of the practice of medicine in our state. In addition, the Senators’ legal counselors, Dina Berlyn and Jennifer Macierowski, were also recognized for their efforts. Attorneys Berlyn and Macierowski regularly sought input from CSMS when drafting numerous piece of legislation, which ultimately passed both chambers and became law.
Thanks to the efforts of Senators Looney and Fasano, many roundtable issues have been addressed, including:
- Limitations, requirements and disclosures of hospital consolidations and physician practice acquisitions
- The transparency and limitation of facility fees
- Protections for patients and physicians within the health insurance arena contained within Public Act 15-146 An Act Concerning Hospitals, Insurers and Healthcare consumers
- Strengthening statutes governing the use of telemedicine
- Increased requirements for adequate insurance networks
- Place reasonable limitations of non-compete clauses
Martin Looney currently is in his twelfth term, having been elected to the State Senate in 1992. In January of 2015, Senator Looney was elected by the members of the State Senate to serve as President Pro Tempore, the highest-ranking legislator in the Connecticut General Assembly.
State Senator Len Fasano has served the 34th Senatorial District communities of Durham, East Haven, North Haven and Wallingford since 2003. Following his reelection in 2014, the Senate Republican Caucus elected Fasano to serve as Senate Minority Leader. Sen. Fasano, whose father was a doctor in New Haven, has advocated for legislation that seeks to remedy the problems caused by the rapid consolidation of physician practices in Connecticut and the resulting impacts on health care costs and patient choice.