
HARTFORD, CT — Despite a shorter enrollment period, or maybe in spite of that deadline, enrollment in Connecticut’s health insurance exchange is more than 90,000 with 21 more days to go.
According to Access Health CT, 90,428 individuals have enrolled in a qualified health insurance plan as of Nov. 30.
An estimated 11,749 of those customers were new to the exchange.
Access Health CT CEO James Wadleigh said Friday that they were blown away by the number of new customers.
He said it means that people who may be losing their Medicaid because of income changes are signing up and finding that exchange plans are “not as expensive as they thought.”
Wadleigh is estimating that enrollment will be around 105,000 to 110,000 individuals this year, which is on par with last year’s enrollment numbers.
Since enrollment is short this year it’s hard to compare year-over-year numbers, but if that’s what was happening enrollment would be up around 8 percent already this year.
Wadleigh contributes some of the success to a big decision to get rid of two brick and mortar enrollment locations in New Britain and New Haven, and instead open up 10 enrollment locations in libraries and community health centers across the state.
“Foot traffic has been phenomenal,” Wadleigh said.

He said the Danbury and Stamford locations have had the most foot traffic.
What gives him pause is the 11,055 customers who signed up for plans in 2017 and haven’t enrolled yet.
He said emails and phone calls will be made over the remaining two weeks to that population to remind them to pick a plan and enroll for coverage in 2018 before it’s too late.
Customers have until Dec. 22 to sign up for a plan on Connecticut’s exchange. The deadline for the federal exchange through HealthCare.gov is Dec. 15.
Enrollment through Healthcare.gov continues to lag.
Two-thirds of the way through enrollment only 2.8 million people have signed up, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
Like always, there is usually a surge in enrollment in the last few weeks so things could turn around.
Connecticut is one of only a dozen states that set up their own marketplaces, a majority of states are using the federal exchange.
More Health Care News & Analysis

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
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