
Connecticut Healthcare Advocate Victoria Veltri resigned Friday and will be starting a new job next week in Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman’s office where she will coordinate “statewide healthcare initiatives.”
Veltri has been the state’s Healthcare Advocate for the past five years and has worked in the office for 10 years. She’s only the second person to serve in that capacity. State Comptroller Kevin Lembo was the first.
The Office of the Healthcare Advocate is an independent agency that helps consumers when they have disputes with their health insurance company. They also educate people about their health care rights and serve as a watchdog over Connecticut’s healthcare marketplace. Veltri also served as the vice chair of Access Health CT’s board of directors, which administers the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplace.
According to a January press release, Veltri’s office saved consumers $10.97 million dollars in 2015. That $10.97 million represents the costs of healthcare services, procedures, claims, and coverage that would have been borne directly by consumers had the agency not intervened.
As the state’s Healthcare Advocate, Veltri oversaw a staff of 28 people who worked on behalf of insurance consumers. Veltri and her staff are paid through an Insurance Department fund, monies for which are provided through assessments on insurance companies.
Veltri will receive a $25,000 increase by making the move to Wyman’s office where her new salary will be $150,000, also to be paid through the Insurance Department fund.
“Vicki is an expert on healthcare and the state’s efforts to improve healthcare access and delivery — a priority for us,” Wyman said. “As Connecticut’s Healthcare Advocate, she has been a valuable resource serving residents; we are so pleased to have her on board.”
In her new position Veltri will coordinate statewide healthcare initiatives.
In her resignation letter, Veltri said she enjoyed her time as Healthcare Advocate.
“In the last five years, the team at OHA helped thousands of individuals navigate the healthcare system and save consumers tens of millions of dollars,” Veltri wrote. “The team advocated for hundreds of pieces of legislation to protect healthcare consumers and grew the national stature of the office as a leading consumer assistance program under the Affordable Care Act and a leading voice on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.”
According to state statute, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has to advise the six-member Healthcare Advocate’s advisory committee that the position is vacant. The advisory committee then has to meet to interview applicants and submit a list of five candidates, ranked in order of preference, to the governor. The governor then has 60 days to choose one.
In the meantime, the most senior attorney in the Office of the Healthcare Advocate, Demain Fontanella, shall serve as the acting Healthcare Advocate until the vacancy is filled.
Steve Karp, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers and who also is a member of the advisory committee, said he’s sad to see Veltri leave the position.
“She did a fabulous job of representing consumers and expanding the responsibilities of the office,” Karp said. “She made sure private insurers were paying what they should be paying.”
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
He said he’s glad to know Veltri will continue to work in Connecticut on healthcare.
“Honestly, I don’t know how she did it. She had a lot on her plate,” Karp said.
Keith Stover, a lobbyist for the Connecticut Association of Health Plans, said the plans enjoyed working with Veltri.
“We have a good working relationship with the office,” Stover said. “We look forward to working with whoever is appointed.”
More State Budget news

Stefanowski Talks Abortion, Employee Raises & Budget In First Press Conference
For a half-hour Wednesday, Bob Stefanowski stood outside the state Capitol and fielded questions on abortion rights and state employee raises in a sign the Republican candidate plans to run a more conventional campaign in this year’s rematch with Gov. Ned Lamont.
Keep reading
Lamont Signs The Budget
Alongside Democratic legislative leaders, Gov. Ned Lamont signed the $24 billion budget adjustment Monday that includes $600 million in tax relief. That’s more than they anticipated they would be able to offer Connecticut residents this Election year because revenue came in higher than expected, but it still creates about an $800 million deficit in 2024. …
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
Connecticut Acts To Help Its Lead-Poisoned Children
After decades of inertia, Connecticut is finally moving to help its thousands of lead-poisoned children and prevent thousands of other young children from being damaged by the widespread neurotoxin.
Keep reading
Bill Bolstering Contracting Oversight Board In Jeopardy After Lamont Administration Raises Concerns
It passed unanimously in the Senate, but a bill that would give the State Contracting Standards Board greater oversight over state contracting appeared stalled in the House Wednesday on the last day of session. “The governor and I have not talked about the bill,” House Speaker Matt Ritter said. “The commissioners have sent us a…
Keep reading
Senate Approves Tax Cuts, Sends $24B Budget to the Governor
The state Senate gave final approval late Tuesday to a $24 billion election year budget plan that includes around $600 million in tax relief while enabling the state to make an $3.5 billion payment on its unfunded pension debt. Senators voted 24-12 at around 10:30 p.m. to send the midterm budget adjustment to the desk…
Keep reading
House Green-Lights $24B Budget
On a party-line vote early Tuesday, the House passed a $24 billion budget adjustment package containing more than $600 million in tax cuts which Democrats heralded as “historic” and Republicans derided as temporary. Lawmakers voted 95 – 52 at around 12:20 a.m. to send the 673-page budget document to the Senate for consideration before the…
Keep reading
Budget Materials
The General Assembly is preparing to debate adjustments to the $24 billion state budget. Below are a few of the documents we’ve been provided as back-up materials. The budget, HB 5506. Town runs. Car tax impact on municipalities. Finance Committee Power Point.
Keep reading
Lawmakers May Vote for First Pay Increase in 20 Years
With legislative retirements mounting, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were considering Monday raising the salaries of General Assembly members for the first time in more than two decades and indexing their pay in the future. During a morning press briefing, House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters that funding for pay raises had been…
Keep reading
Amid Surging Revenue, House Prepares to Vote on Budget Adjustments
Connecticut’s House of Representatives was expected to vote Monday on a $24 billion budget adjustment package, buoyed by revised revenue predictions that exceeded expectations by more than $350 million. The revised consensus figures released Monday confirm the surge in revenues that enabled Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative Democrats to reach an agreement last week on…
Keep reading
Dems Detail Budget Deal With $500 Mil in Tax Cuts, Extension of Gas Tax Holiday
Legislative Democrats and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration announced Wednesday the details of a $24.2 billion budget adjustment package, which they say provides around $500 million in tax relief including extending a gas tax holiday until December. Lamont and legislative leaders outlined the agreement during an afternoon press conference in the state Capitol building. Both chambers…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading
Senate Joins House And Votes To Give Raises, Bonuses To State Employees
The Senate gave final approval by a 22-13 vote on a plan to give unionized state workers a set of raises and bonuses. The plan, negotiated by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and a coalition of public sector labor unions, provides three years of 2.5% raises and step increases as well as a total of $3,500…
Keep reading
House Advances Labor Deal In Historic Vote
Lawmakers in Connecticut’s House of Representatives signed off on a plan to give state workers a set of raises and bonuses Thursday in a mostly partisan vote on a negotiated labor agreement. The House voted 96 to 52 in support of the deal with 1 Republican, Rep. Tom Delnicki of South Windsor, joining all Democrats…
Keep reading
Republicans Propose Last-Minute Tax Package
Legislative Republicans pitched a $1.2 billion tax relief plan Thursday which reduces state income, sales and gas taxes and proposes to join other states in suing the federal government to challenge restrictions on spending pandemic relief funds. House and Senate Republicans announced the plan during a state Capitol press conference Thursday morning. It cuts the…
Keep reading
The Budget Battle Begins To Take Shape
Tax collections have improved and pushed Connecticut’s budget surplus to $4 billion, but the state budget still relies heavily on federal funding and without it the state would end up running a “sizeable operating deficit.” The Office of Policy and Management told state Comptroller Natalie Braswell Wednesday that if not for the use of the…
Keep readingMore Health Care News & Analysis

6 Common Barriers Men Face When Seeking Mental Health Support
The outward effects of mental illness can often be dismissed as a sign of weakness or personal failure. For men, this type of social stereotyping can be especially hard to escape — being told to “man up” is a common refrain that can be reductive and stigmatizing.
Keep readingMedical Examining Board Fines Doctor $10,000
The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday fined an Oxford doctor $10,000 for fraudulently using another doctor’s name and Drug Enforcement Agency registration number to prescribe controlled substances to a family member.
Keep reading
Clinical Trials With Immunotherapy Drugs Are Source Of Hope And Challenges In Treating Aggressive Breast Cancer
Joshalyn Mills of Branford and Nancy Witz of Kensington had the best possible results after being treated in clinical trials with immunotherapy drugs for aggressive breast cancer: Their tumors were eliminated. But while there are dramatic successes with immunotherapy drugs, there are also many failures, and researchers are trying to find out why in hopes…
Keep reading
Coalition of Health Insurers Questions Viability of Connecticut Partnership Plan
Members of Connecticut’s Health Care Future, a coalition of health insurers, hospitals, and businesses, are questioning whether Connecticut lawmakers have done enough this year to protect teachers and municipal employees from increases in health insurance premiums. “Despite repeated bailouts from taxpayers, the Connecticut Partnership Plan continues to be a fiscal Titanic that demonstrates why government-controlled health…
Keep reading
AG’s Tackle Mental Health Parity
Attorneys General in Connecticut and Rhode Island threw their support Monday behind a coalition of mental health advocacy groups asking a federal appeals court to revisit a recent ruling giving insurance companies more flexibility to deny mental health claims.
Keep reading
Budget Green Lights Psychedelic Therapies
Buried in the budget Gov. Ned Lamont signed this week is a provision that would create a pilot program to allow Connecticut to be the first-in-the-nation to study the impact of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and MDMA on patients with depression and PTSD. The budget now creates a pilot program within the Department of Mental…
Keep reading