With six days left to enroll, Connecticut’s health insurance exchange, Access Health CT, has been seeing enrollment numbers on par with what it saw last year around this time.
Individuals who are seeking health insurance that starts on Jan. 1, 2023, have until midnight on Dec. 15 to sign up for a plan.
Enrollment will go through Jan. 15, 2023, but any plan purchased after Dec. 15 won’t start until Feb. 1, 2023.
As of Dec. 2, nearly 90,000 Connecticut residents had enrolled or have been auto-renewed into plans they had last year through the exchange. However, there are about 5,000 people who were on plans that were discontinued and will need to take action to maintain their insurance for next year.
The three plans that were discontinued were all with ConnectiCare Benefits. They were the Compass Gold Alternative POS, the Passage Bronze Alternative POS, and the Choice Bronze Alternative POS.
The auto renew process for existing plans happened between Nov. 17 through Nov. 21, but there’s still time to shop for a new plan if a person finds their premium will change.
The Insurance Department did allow the carrier to increase rates this year on average 12.9%, at the same time the amount of premium help from the federal government increased, but those two things impact plans differently.
“There’s more financial help, truly, than ever before,” Caroline Lee Ruwet, director of marketing for Access Health CT, said.
She said about 84% of customers last year on the exchange received federal premium help and 16% paid the full cost. Those numbers are slightly higher this year with 85% qualifying for financial help and 15% paying the full premium.
Residents can enroll directly online at AccessHeatlhCT.com or they can use a broker to sign up. There are also several enrollment locations across the state for anyone who wants to have their questions answered in person.
Ruwet said it’s typical for residents to procrastinate and wait until the last minute.
But she said this year “acquisition is up 25%,” for new customers.
“We’re really tracking exactly where we were last year,” she said.
She said people who considered the exchange in the past, but didn’t enroll might want to take a look at plans this year because they might be leaving money on the table.
“Really our mission is to reduce the amount of uninsured and reduce health disparities,” Ruwet said. “The real goal is to make sure Connecticut residents are insured.”
