About 55 percent of the individuals purchasing health insurance on the state’s insurance exchange are over the age of 45, according to information released Tuesday by state officials.
This represents a continuation of the trend from the first two weeks of enrollment that drew concern in mid-October from Peter Van Loon, Access Health CT’s chief operating officer. He told the board of directors that it’s a number the exchange would continue to monitor because of its potential to impact the success of the program.
A mix of age ranges is necessary to avoid what’s called the death spiral where a majority of the individuals purchasing plans are older and sicker, driving up costs.
About 4,121, or 33 percent, of the 12,648 individuals who have enrolled as of Nov. 14 are ages 55 to 64. Of those older adults, about 2,767 are enrolled in private plans and 1,354 are enrolled in Medicaid.
And of the more than 7,092 individuals enrolled with one of the three private insurance carriers on the exchange, about 35 percent are eligible to receive a subsidy and about 31 percent are without any subsidy, and about 34 percent are eligible for cost-sharing reductions. There were 5,224 individuals enrolled in Medicaid.
Anthem still remains the most popular plan on the exchange with about 62 percent of the enrollees. Next is ConnectiCare Benefits with about 35.2 percent of the enrollees, and HealthyCT — the new nonprofit insurance company — is pulling up the rear with about 2.4 percent of the enrollees.
More than half of the individuals who chose a private insurance carrier went with a silver plan, which is the middle of the road for benefits. About 28.4 percent purchased top-tier gold plans and 15 percent purchased bronze plans, which offer the lowest level of benefits.
There also were 137 people under the age of 30 who have purchased low-cost, catastrophic coverage plans.
