
Access Health CT’s board of directors adopted a 2017 budget that is about $2 million, or 6 percent, more than it forecast in 2016.
Board members for Connecticut’s insurance exchange unanimously approved a $34.6 million budget for the 2017 fiscal year, an increase over the $32.6 million forecast for this year, at their monthly meeting May 19 at the Legislative Office Building.
The budget increase is driven in large part by two factors: expiring federal grants and expenses related to a new call center, said Access Health CT CFO Steven Sigal, who presented the budget to board members.
“We have a lot of things changing in 2017,” he said. “The grants that we’ve been operating under, basically, have fully culminated and expired. We have one little piece left of one of our Level 1 (grants) that will expire in December.”
Like many of the state health insurance marketplaces formed in the wake of the Affordable Care Act, which requires all individuals to have health insurance, Access Health received federal grant money to help cover startup costs.
As those funding streams dry up, Sigal said, funds have to come from elsewhere.
“You’re seeing the machinations of not having grant funding anymore, to the extent that we had before,” he said as he outlined next year’s budget.
In 2017 the bulk of funding for the exchange – 94 percent – will come from assessments on private insurers and just 6 percent will come from grants, according to his presentation to the board.
In addition, Access Health has put out a request for proposals seeking a new vendor for its call center. As it awaits a new vendor, the budget has a placeholder for $18.8 million earmarked for the call center, part of which will go toward startup costs, according to Sigal.
Earlier in the meeting, Access Health CEO James Wadleigh Jr. said marketplace officials hope a new vendor will exponentially improve the performance of the call center.
Another line item showing an increase is the one devoted to salaries, which is slated to rise by a little less than $1 million next year, compared with this year. Sigal said most of that increase reflects temporary jobs that will be made permanent next year, as the marketplace adapts to meet its needs.
In an “anomaly” that other states don’t have, Sigal said the Connecticut marketplace’s budget also includes costs for an All Payer Claim Database, for operations as well as development and implementation.
A delay in the development and implementation of the database shifted expenses into 2017 that otherwise would have been funded by federal grants that have now expired. That grant money, Sigal noted, was used for other development and implementation expenses.
Despite the fact that Access Health’s budget will increase next year, the overall cost of operating the exchange is expected to decline. Under the 2017 budget, expenses will total $66.4 million, down 15 percent from the $78.4 million in expenses forecast for 2016.
But the two other components contributing funds to the exchange – federal grants and Department of Social Services reimbursements – are both expected to drop next year, leaving Access Health to pick up an increased share of the tab.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
In 2017, according to Sigal’s presentation, DSS reimbursements are expected to total $29.7 million, down from $37 million forecast for this year, while grants are expected to total just more than $2 million next year, down from $8.8 million forecast this year.
The drop in overall expenses for the exchange are due to decreased development and implementation costs, Sigal said.
More Health Care News & Analysis

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
Officials Highlight Effort To Boost Mental Health Services For Kids
At a Hartford-based community provider Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont and a handful of his agency commissioners highlighted the expected impact of more than $100 million in recently passed funding aimed at increasing behavioral health services for Connecticut children. The governor appeared at The Village for Families and Children, a recipient of new state funding included…
Keep reading
Democrats Turn Focus To Roe v. Wade
With the legislative session and the conventions in the rearview mirror, Democrats in Connecticut are turning their focus to the U.S. Senate and the upcoming vote to codify Roe v. Wade and the impact it could have on the 2022 Elections. U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy was on Fox News Sunday talking about the issue, which…
Keep reading
OP-ED | Policymakers Did Little to Lower Healthcare Costs This Session
Last year, Connecticut policymakers accomplished little to reduce the cost of healthcare, and those costs haven’t gotten any better since then. Incumbents will be asked what they did this year to provide some relief. Unfortunately, they have little to offer.
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | Will the 2022 Legislative Session Help or Hurt Democrats in the Fall?
The short but surprisingly productive 2022 session of the General Assembly is coming to a close this week. As Democrats race to pass bills, and Republicans do all they can to talk them to death, a question that has to be on the minds of a lot of legislators is what the session means, if…
Keep reading
House Sends Omnibus Children’s Mental Health Bill To Senate
Connecticut’s House of Representatives approved a roughly $35 million bill Wednesday aimed at improving the mental health services available to children. There’s no question that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the children’s mental health crisis and lawmakers want parents to know they’ve been listening. To address the issue, including greater access to mental health services, the…
Keep readingMore Labor News

States With The Largest Unionized Workforces
Where does Connecticut stand in the list of states with the most unionized employees?
Keep reading
Business Leaders Make Push To Veto Captive Audience Bill
Connecticut business leaders are leaning on Gov. Ned Lamont to veto a bill that would restrict what employers can say in the workplace. The bill, which has been a priority of labor unions for years, is being described by business owners as an unconstitutional attempt to restrict workplace communications and an infringement on employer free…
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
‘Captive Audience’ Bill Headed To Governor’s Desk
Legislation prohibiting Connecticut employers from holding “captive audience” meetings to discourage workers from organizing received final approval in the House late Friday despite Republican arguments it was preempted by federal law. The bill passed in a 88 to 56 vote, generally along party lines. Eight Democrats joined all but one Republican in voting against it.…
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