insurance
CT exchange premiums up this year, but similar to other states and still too high
There have been national reports of extreme increases for this year in health insurance exchange premiums, largely due to Trump administration policies. Not surprisingly, a new analysis by the Urban Institute for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds that states with more competition among insurers and more options for consumers have the lowest premiums. Connecticut’s…
Read MoreChartbook: Prescription drugs driving CT health costs across payers
According to a new Chartbook, prescription drugs are the largest driver of health costs in our state. We spend more per person on prescriptions than all states but Delaware and that number is rising faster here than most states. Charts regarding Medicaid spending have been corrected to reflect that pharmacy costs in the program have…
Read MoreNew Hartford HealthCare-Tufts insurance company raises concerns
Wednesday, Hartford HealthCare and Tufts Health Plan announced the formation of a new, jointly-owned insurer, CarePartners of Connecticut, to sell Medicare Advantage plans to Connecticut residents for next year, pending CMS approval. Hartford HealthCare includes thousands of providers in home health care, rehab services, long term care, behavioral healthcare, and five hospitals, to date. In…
Read MoreNew CT insurer report card online
CT’s best kept secret, the latest CT health insurer report card is out. Part of the managed care reform law passed twenty years ago, the report allows consumers, policymakers and other stakeholders to compare health plans across dozens of key performance standards, customer satisfaction rates, provider participation by county, and claims denial rates. As in…
Read MoreCT ranks 3rd highest among states in high-deductible health plans
Analysis of new federal data by SHADAC finds that most people (59.3%) in CT covered by employer-sponsored health plans were in high-deductible plans last year, up from 40% in 2013. For purposes of this study, high-deductible plans are defined as meeting the minimum deductible amount required for Health Savings Account eligibility ($1,300 for an individual…
Read MoreEarly look at exchange premiums finds Hartford premium trends modest compared to other US cities
A Kaiser Foundation very early look at 2018 health insurance exchange monthly premium proposals, subject to change, across 21 US cities predicts that Hartford consumers will do well next year. The report compares early rate filings for a 40 year old non-smoker making $30,000/year choosing the second-lowest silver plan. Silver plans are the most popular.…
Read MoreLowest wage workers least likely to be offered health benefits at work
Only 22% of Americas earning the lowest ten percent of wages are offered medical benefits by their employer, according to a new report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This compares with 93% of the top ten percent of earners who are offered medical benefits at work. Unfortunately, the lowest wage workers also pay…
Read MoreCT insurers’ 2018 rate requests as much as 52% increase — public hearing, comment
As part of the health insurance rate review process, CT’s Insurance Department will hold a public hearing June 14th in Hartford on insurers’ double-digit rate requests for next year. In the morning, the hearing will address Anthem’s requests averaging 33.8% increases and affecting 35,000 policyholders. In the afternoon, the hearing will consider ConnectiCare’s average 17.5%…
Read MoreDifferent polls, different questions – but people are worried about health care
A new poll, Inform CT Consumer Confidence Survey, finds that almost two thirds of CT residents are worried about health insurance affordability, up 12% in the last year. A new Gallup poll found that Americans’ perceptions of the health care and drug industries are the lowest among all sectors except the federal government. That means…
Read MoreCT Insurers want enormous rate hikes in 2017
Insurers in CT have asked the Dept. of Insurance for permission to raise premiums significantly next year, both on the exchange, AccessHealthCT, and off. Insurers want to raise individual AccessHealthCT premiums on average by 26.8% (Anthem with 56,700 covered lives), 14.3% (ConnectiCare Benefits covering 47,597 lives) and 12.21% (HealthyCT with 16,274 covered lives). Those averages…
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