HARTFORD - Juan A. Figueroa greeted lawmakers and their staff Wednesday as they passed his makeshift headquarters - a small portion of a public lobby on the third floor of the Legislative Office Building.

He did not have a desk. He balanced his computer on his lap and made calls from his cell phone.

Figueroa could work from his Meriden office on Pratt Street, but the president of the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut knows his presence in Hartford is important during the remaining days of this year's legislative session, which is scheduled to end Wednesday.

Figueroa, a Meriden resident and former state representative, is working hard to convince lawmakers to vote for his foundation's health-care proposal, SustiNet. The plan, which has become House Bill 6600, was passed by the House earlier this month and passed the Senate on Saturday.

SustiNet calls for groups to pool together and become part of a newly designed, self-insured plan that would be available to people working in a variety of sectors, including state and municipal employees. Recipients of HUSKY and State-Administered General Assistance, state-funded insurance for low-income residents, would also be included.

In addition, SustiNet looks to incorporate other aspects of health care. It would establish task forces to study childhood and adult obesity and tobacco use, and participating providers eventually would be required to use electronic medical records.

The plan would be administered by a public authority and operated by a public-private partnership, and would take about five years to fully implement.

In his endeavor, Figueroa has the support of two high-ranking politicians who happen to be his neighbors.

State House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan, D-Meriden, backs SustiNet, calling it the companion to the health-care pooling bill he has been pushing through the legislative process. His proposal, House Bill 6582, was also passed by the House and the Senate.

The pooling measure would allow municipalities, small businesses and nonprofit organizations to join the state employees' insurance plan, and would make the state plan self-insured - an idea some Republicans are wary of.

Together, advocates say, both bills help Connecticut prepare for the future - a future that U.S. Rep. Christopher S. Murphy, D-5th District, will have a hand in deciding.

Murphy, who represents Meriden and lives in Cheshire, is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over health-care reform.

With President Barack Obama on board, Murphy said he hopes to see the U.S. House pass a universal health-care bill by the end of the summer.

Now, more than ever, it is important for the state and federal governments to work together with the help of organizations like the Universal Health Care Foundation, Murphy said. Though the specifics still need to be worked out, the nation is heading toward some form of universal health-care system, he said, and a public-private partnership will be needed.

Murphy, who served 10 years in the state legislature before joining Congress in 2007, praised both Connecticut bills last week. They help prepare the state for future federal legislation, he said, adding that state input will be important as the country makes changes to its broken health-care system.

Not everyone, however, feels that preparing for the future in this way is a good thing.

State Sen. Leonard A. Fasano, R-North Haven, said Friday that he is not sure how the three health-care advocates are framing their argument.

"It's an ideology," Fasano said of the idea of universal health care and federal legislation. "How do we know how it will work and what it will look like?"

Though the concept is well intended, Fasano, who represents Wallingford, says that the cost of offering some form of universal health care is estimated to be high and the nation cannot afford to pick up that burden right now.

It is no accident that the SustiNet and health-care pooling bills are readying Connecticut for reform at a time when the topic is also gathering steam in Washington; Donovan, Figueroa and Murphy talk regularly and think strategically.

"We are all working in the same direction," Donovan said.

"It is an unusual trifecta," Figueroa added.

It is also a relationship that Fasano questions.

There is more to Connecticut than just Murphy's congressional district, and the three advocates should want to solicit as much feedback and as many ideas as possible from residents throughout the state, he said, adding that there is a need for bipartisan participation and support.

Donovan has toured the state to promote his pooling plan and says he's reached out to Republicans.

A modest Figueroa credits Donovan and Murphy for the success achieved in the health-care arena, noting that health-care reform only happens when powerful leaders with courage are willing to take on the issue.

Donovan has been tackling the matter for years.

"When I first ran, I talked about health care and they elected me," he said of his 1992 bid for the state House.

Donovan has since climbed the Democrats' leadership ladder and has pushed for health-care reform at every step.

He is not a doctor and he does not work for a health insurance company, but he has met with many people - including working families, he says - who lack health-care coverage. Conversations with those who cannot afford health insurance or who may not have insurance that meets their needs motivated Donovan, and he's become one of the biggest advocates in the state for health-care reform.

"It just struck me as something that should be a basic

right for people," he said.

Murphy has also championed health-care reform over the years.

While a state senator, he was co-chairman of the legislature's Public Health Committee, leading many progressive efforts to improve health care in the state, he said. For example, he authored a 2005 bill allowing the state to fund stem-cell research.

While Figueroa may not have health-care legislation on his resume, he brings experience as a civil rights lawyer to the table.

When hired by the foundation in 2003, Figueroa said, he came with extensive involvement with public policy law, but not necessarily in the health-care arena. He educated himself on the issue, taking health-care policy classes to help him in his new role.

In 2003, Figueroa said, he knew health care was an important issue but did not realize it was something that would jump to the forefront on both the state and federal levels.

"I didn't know it would be this huge of an issue," he said.

People ask why health-care reform debates are different today than in the 1990s when Bill Clinton was president, Murphy said. The difference is today's economic recession, he said, noting that many people are just one paycheck away from losing their health insurance. Today there is a push at the grassroots level that has not been seen before.

"I hope Governor Rell is listening to the clamor out there," Murphy said.

Rell vetoed a similar health-care pooling bill last year, and because little in the health-care pooling plan has changed since then, Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele does not see how the outcome will be any different.

Fedele said earlier this month that he was surprised that the legislature was moving the health-care proposals forward because he thought negotiations were still ongoing with Donovan.

The bills now go to Rell to either be vetoed or signed into law.

afalcone@record-journal.com

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