Gov. Ned Lamont wants companies to pay up if their workers get health insurance from taxpayer-funded HUSKY Medicaid.

At a Thursday campaign stop, he proposed charging larger businesses up to $1,000 for every employee enrolled in Medicaid. The money would replace Affordable Care Act subsidies that Congress failed to renew.

Lamont insisted it’s not a tax, but a “reimbursement.”

Lamont pitched the proposal outside a Walmart in Rocky Hill, which actually offers health insurance to employees after 90 days.

“These guys should pay their fair share. Maybe they should step up,” he told reporters. “Big companies that have billions of dollars in profits are taking advantage of corporate welfare and pushing their employees right onto the backs of the taxpayers.”

Companies with at least 100 workers (or most nonprofits with 1,000 staffers) would pay $1,000 for each employee on HUSKY. Part-time workers could cost less – around $750 based on their hours – Lamont said.

Franchisees would also be subject to the fee, even if they operate under different LLCs.

Lamont predicted the fee will generate $100 million a year to replace federal subsidies helping lower-income residents pay for Access Health CT, the state’s Obamacare exchange. In December, the governor approved $70 million from an emergency fund to temporarily replace the subsidies.

“The cuts are coming down from Washington. The question is, how are we going to respond?” said state Sen. Matt Lesser (D-Middletown), co-chair of the Legislature’s Human Services Committee. “100,000 people are getting kicked off of HUSKY this year because of new cuts from the Trump administration, the MAGA Republicans.”

Lamont frequently says, “Connecticut doesn’t need more taxes; we need more taxpayers.”

He insisted his election-year proposal is not a tax.

“No, this is a reimbursement,” the governor said. “Rather than having taxpayers subsidize big operations, they’re going to pay their fair share and contribute to this.”

Lamont’s Republican challenger said, "Call it what you want, it’s a new tax."

“If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck,” said state Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich). “It will backfire. It will destroy jobs for people who need them the most and raise the cost of our groceries and other items we buy at the store.”

It’s not clear how much money the proposal would cost Walmart.

“This proposal does nothing to lower premiums, reduce prescription drug prices or address the true drivers of health care inflation,” the retail giant said in a statement. “Instead, it would punish employers that are creating jobs, offering benefits and investing in local communities.”

Walmart employees pay $38.30 per paycheck for health insurance. A spokesperson did not have an estimate for how many Connecticut workers opt for HUSKY instead.

“This proposal unfairly singles out Connecticut employers," said Chris DiPentima, president of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. “Many factors influence an individual’s eligibility for Medicaid, including family size, household income and personal circumstances that extend well beyond an employer's control.”

Meantime, Lamont’s Democratic opponent – challenging him from the left – said he had the idea first.

“I hope he calls it the Josh Elliott Proposal. This is a bill I introduced a decade ago,” said state Rep. Josh Elliott (D-Hamden), who Lamont will face in an August primary. “My concern is that, if he gets reelected, that he won't actually do any of these things because we've seen over the last eight years how he's let Eversource run us over, the way he's let developers determine these luxury rates.”

Lamont brushed aside Elliott’s claim.

“Nothing happened,” he said. “I’m here; something’s going to happen.”

A Medicaid fee for large employers was first proposed two decades ago, but it never went anywhere in the General Assembly.

New Jersey is considering a $725 Medicaid fee for large employers. Massachusetts requires all businesses to contribute to Medicaid, but stopped requiring larger ones to pay more in 2019.