CT Health Reform
Exchange meeting update
Monday morning the CT Health Exchange Board held a special meeting by phone with only a few days notice and only noticed on their website. The purpose of the meeting was to increase, yet again, costs for consumers in the exchange. They reduced the prescription deductible in the unsubsidized silver standard plan to $400 from…
Read MoreWhat can Charter Oak teach the CT health insurance exchange?
A comparison finds lower consumer costs in the current Charter Oak plan than the Access Health CT (the CT Health Insurance Exchange) standard silver plan. Governor Rell created Charter Oak almost five years ago for the same purpose as the exchange – offering affordable, decent coverage options for CT’s uninsured. While Charter Oak premiums started out…
Read MoreCT individual premiums expected to rise 29% next year
A new analysis by the Society of Actuaries predicts that non-group health insurance premiums will rise from the current monthly average of $339 to $514 in 2014. According to the authors, acknowledged by HHS Secretary Sebelius, the increase will result mainly from provisions of the Affordable Care Act. CT can expect our individual market to…
Read MoreInsurance Exchange web portal needs work
The access health CT (formerly the CT Health Insurance Exchange) web portal got a chilly reception from stakeholders at its first demonstration Wednesday. The web portal is the foundation of the state’s health reform efforts. People searching for coverage, in public programs or private insurance, will be directed to the website. The audience of brokers…
Read MoreSmall business absence in Exchange planning
Kevin Galvin’s blog today notes the continuing absence of a small business voice on the CT Health Insurance Exchange Board, while the insurance industry’s voice is growing.
Read MoreCT Insurance Exchange standard plan – it got worse
Unaffordable in its first version, the CT Health Insurance Exchange Board today voted unanimously to raise deductibles and copays on the standard plans for in-network care, blaming federal regulatory constraints. The new standard plan for the Silver level raises the annual deducible (applicable to hospitals) from $2,500 to $3,000 and annual prescription deductible from $200…
Read More6 of 14 state exchanges actively purchasing coverage – but not CT
A new update on health insurance exchanges by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that six states – CA, MA, NY, OR, RI and VT – of the 14 that have made a decision, intend to actively purchase coverage. Those six exchanges will be negotiating with insurers to get the best value for consumers in their…
Read MoreWe are 17.7% of the way to health reform’s Jan. 1 deadline
CT policymakers have completed 17.7% of the tasks necessary for health reform; most are due on Jan.1st of next year. Medicaid, patient-centered medical homes and payment reform and quality improvement are leading reform according to March’s Health Reform Dashboard. CT still has problems with the CT Health Insurance Exchange (now access health CT), health information…
Read MoreLIA waiver denied
The administration’s plan to apply an asset test to families of young people in the Low Income Adults program (formerly SAGA) was not approved by the federal Medicaid agency Friday. Advocates objected to the plan stating that it was designed to address a problem that rarely happens, college-aged children in wealthier families on Medicaid, and…
Read MoreExchange prices will likely be very high
The Hartford Courant is reporting that premiums in the CT Health Insurance Exchange – Access Health CT – will be between 10 and 100% higher than current levels. “Thousands of Connecticut residents will have a shock this summer when they see the prices for 2014 medical coverage that they’re counting on buying through the newly…
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