insurance
Exchange tweaks for 2015 offerings – weak on affordability, expanded networks, HSAs
Changes for next year’s CT health insurance exchange plan offerings are small and unlikely to change premiums much. Cost sharing for the most affordable plans will be rising, with consumers paying more for services. Studies find that even modest increases in cost sharing lead consumers to reduce both necessary and unnecessary care, and can drive…
Read MoreCabinet meeting – exchange and SIM updates
Most of today’s Cabinet meeting was spent on SIM’s decision to create a CT-specific medical home standard rather than using well-vetted, evidence based national standards. (May 29th we are hosting a webinar with NCQA to learn more about the NCQA system that has certified 1,009 PCMH providers in CT already. Register here.) Questions were raised…
Read MoreSHOP exchange facing challenges, low enrollment
A CT Mirror article examines the reasons behind very low enrollment in CT’s insurance exchange for small businesses (SHOP). This shouldn’t come as news – low enrollment was predicted by analysts hired by the exchange. The reason was also predicted – it’s expensive. The article explores other problems including poor marketing, no online tool linking…
Read More208,301 in CT enrolled in health care under ACA
AccessHealthCT has worked through the queue of applications pending when enrollment into the insurance exchange closed March 31st. Between Jan 1stand March 31st, 208,301 state residents were enrolled in coverage. Most qualified for Medicaid – 129,588 – approximately the number of new eligibles originally estimated for the state. (For the nitpickers out there – it…
Read More“free” preventive care that isn’t free
News reports are highlighting the nuances of implementing the ACA’s provision eliminating consumer cost sharing for preventive care. An article in the Washington Post includes an example of a practices adding a facility fee of $1,935 for a CT woman’s colonoscopy that should have been free. According to a WSJ article ‘“Patients are scheduling ‘physicals’…
Read MoreHealth Care Cabinet meeting — SIM, exchange updates
Yesterday’s Cabinet meeting was lively — not sure it was productive. The insurance exchange reported on a flurry of last minute activity that significantly boosted enrollment. Final numbers will be available in a few weeks when it becomes clear how many people follow through and pay premiums, and the backlog of people in the queue…
Read MoreHarvard Pilgrim earns license to sell insurance in CT
Yesterday Harvard Pilgrim announced that they received approval from CT’s insurance department to sell health insurance in our state, but specific plans and prices are still under review. Harvard Pilgrim, a nonprofit insurer, covers over a million lives in MA, NH and ME with plans to expand to the rest of New England. The company…
Read MoreCTNJ Op-Ed: How is CT’s exchange really doing?
CT News Junkie is a CT treasure that policymakers, advocates and other stakeholders rely on for the latest information on the topics we need to track. CTNJ gives you the unvarnished news about what’s happening, and why. CTNJ Op-Eds offer an important platform for thoughtful commenters to give context to the news and offer their…
Read MoreHealth Insurance exchange: “customer complaints are a blessing”
In yesterday’s Health Care Cabinet meeting’s insurance exchange report we learned that staff there welcome complaints as windows into their system’s flaws. They understand that if they hear one complaint, it usually means there are 50 other consumers with the same problem who didn’t call. They see these as opportunities to fix problems and learn.…
Read MoreExchange affordability measure gutted in committee
In yesterday’s Insurance Committee meeting, SB-11was amended to delay CT’s insurance exchange negotiating premiums with insurers and changed “shall” to “may”, essentially making the legislation irrelevant. The exchange has refused to negotiate with insurers in the past, arguing among other things that it was too early to worry about high premiums. Since last year, exchanges…
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