Senator Tony Hwang Re-Appointed as Republican Leader of Insurance & Real Estate Committee

HARTFORD – Senator Tony Hwang has officially been reappointed by Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding to serve as Chief Deputy Leader of the Connecticut Senate Republican Caucus for the upcoming 2025-2026 session of the Connecticut General Assembly. Hwang was also appointed to be the Senate Republican Leader of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Insurance & Real Estate Committee. This committee has cognizance over all insurance law such as healthcare, property & casualty insurance, and auto insurance as well as real estate law for residential and commercial properties in Connecticut. With healthcare and auto insurance affordability issues skyrocketing in recent years, Senator Hwang has been committed to ensuring critical scrutiny of unsustainable premium increases, as well as policies that could lead to lower healthcare costs for Connecticut consumers and businesses.

Connecticut Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding in this appointment of Hwang said, “Senator Hwang has been a strong leader in our caucus, playing an integral role in accomplishing major goals for Senate Republicans, as well as the people of Connecticut. This appointment will undoubtedly bolster his ability to address affordability concerns and promote policy that improves quality of life statewide.”

In recent years, Senator Hwang has promoted common-sense “Association Health Plan” legislation, allowing businesses, nonprofits, and trade organizations to pool their purchasing power together and purchase healthcare at much more competitive rates. He has also championed “Cost Growth Benchmarking” legislation which has reigned in the ever-expanding cost of healthcare, requiring health networks to justify large increases in costs each year. He has also combatted anti-competitive healthcare practices, supporting legislation that prohibits contracts between health carriers (i.e., insurers and HMOs) and healthcare providers from containing all-or-nothing clauses, anti-steering clauses, anti-tiering clauses, or gag clauses. He also has been vocal on issues with Pharmaceutical Benefits Managers (PBMs) failing to pass purported cost-saving measures onto ratepayers, fighting for higher transparency in PBM practices.

“I am grateful for this opportunity to continue my work in making healthcare and property & casualty insurance more affordable in Connecticut. Year after year, insurers ask for and are rewarded increase after increase. The people of Connecticut are tapped out. We must continue to heavily scrutinize and justify any rate increase, and pass common-sense policies that promote competition, reduce prices, and benefit the health and well-being of all residents,” Senator Hwang remarked.

This past session due to political disagreements between the committee and legislative leadership, not a single bill was passed out of the Insurance & Real Estate Committee. Senator Hwang hopes to reintroduce “Association Health Plan” legislation again this session, as well as protections for long-term care insurance policyholders from the startling rate increases they have seen in recent years.

“When a policyholder of a long-term care insurance plan sees, in some cases, 300% increases in their premiums in a given year, that is a gut shot. These individuals may have been paying premiums for decades, but all of a sudden they are priced out and do not get to reap the benefits of their policy. I will work to make sure these policyholders are protected from these shocking rate increases,” Senator Hwang added.

The Connecticut General Assembly will reconvene for the 2025 session of the Connecticut General Assembly on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. Senator Hwang looks forward to working in a bipartisan manner to find solutions to Connecticut’s healthcare affordability crisis.