Raising Stakes: Health Insurance Company Presidents Tell Lamont They Oppose Public Option in Frank Letter.

The heads of five health insurance companies have joined in a letter to Governor Ned Lamont to explain their opposition to State Comptroller Kevin Lembo’s plan to create a state-run competitor.

The CEOs of Anthem, Cigna, CVS Health (which includes Aetna), Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, and UnitedHealth Group explain to Lamont that the state does not possess the experience to operate a complex health insurance plan. They also point to the hefty annual deficits racked up by the Partnership Plan the comptroller operates.

The company leaders remind the governor, whose fortune includes big scores in health care, that they have heeded his call to continue to innovate. They also don’t like Lamont’s proposal to slap a tax on health insurance policies–an additional levy on thousands of Connecticut working families.

The letter is a warning that the companies’ commitments to the state may reach its limit if the state goes into competition against them with unregulated plans that do not require reserves.