insurance
Health Insurance Exchange Board recommends standards for benefit package
Last week, the CT Health Insurance Exchange Board voted on their recommendation for the benchmark essential health benefit (EHB) package that must be offered in 2014 by all individual and small group plans, both inside and outside the Exchange, under national health reform. Federal regulators granted states the ability to define the EHB package, within…
Read MoreOHA saves CT consumers $2.4 million in last quarter, 99% of state employees HEP-compliant, and HUSKY/Charter Oak member forums scheduled
The Office of Health Care Advocate reported today saving consumers $2.4 million from April through last month. OHA provides assistance and support to CT consumers struggling with insurance. 85% of OHA consumer cases result in overturning insurer denials of coverage. The Office of State Comptroller announced Tuesday that over 99% of the 53,000 state employees…
Read MoreExchange Navigator Committee moves into recommendations
Yesterday the CT Health Insurance Exchange Brokers, Agents, and Navigators Committee started the hard work of developing a structure and defining roles for the Navigator Program. Navigators will educate and help enroll potential individual and small business exchange, and Medicaid enrollees. Under the ACA and federal regulations, navigators must have demonstrated ability to reach those…
Read MoreCourant editorial critical of Senate failure to add consumers to exchange board
Yesterday’s Hartford Courant editorial voiced disappointment that the legislature and administration could not agree to add consumer and small business voices to the CT Health Insurance Exchange Board this session. The editorial notes that a bill adding a significant number of both voices passed the House but stalled in the Senate. The editorial notes both…
Read MoreOnly State Health Care Advocate gets a vote on the health insurance exchange
Budget implementer legislation passed late yesterday included only a provision to give the State Health Care Advocate a vote on the CT Health Insurance Exchange Board. The bill did not add any independent consumer or small business members. While the Health Care Advocate is a respected and valued member, she serves at the pleasure of…
Read MoreHHS awards HealthyCT $75.8 million loan to develop new statewide nonprofit insurer
Today HHS announced approval of HealthyCT’s CO-OP application to develop a new non-profit insurance company for CT consumers. The federal $75.8 million loan is meant to cover start up costs and reserve funds for the new insurer. The CO-OP opportunity (Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan)was created in the national health reform Affordable Care Act, to…
Read MoreInsurance Exchange Board meeting notes
The CT Health Insurance Exchange Board met last week – not much happened. Small business owner, Kevin Galvin, and a consumer who has struggled with health care and insurance access gave very moving public comment to start the meeting. There were lots of updates but no actual substantive information. The committee reports were interesting –…
Read MoreExchange fix bill dies in Senate
The bill to bring the CT Health Insurance Exchange into compliance with federal regulations died on the Senate calendar last night as the session ended. The bill would have added two consumer and two small business representatives to the Board’s membership and given the State Health Care Advocate a vote. Currently there are no voting…
Read MoreRisk is all about perception, and that shapes health decisions
Making good decisions, about our health and everything else, revolves around perceptions of risk, according to speakers at yesterday’s annual Donaghue Foundation conference. David Ropeik, author of How Risky Is It Really? Why Our Fears Don’t Always Match the Facts, and Brian Zikmund-Fisher, Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan,…
Read MoreCT small businesses struggle with health benefits
A new survey by the Universal Health Care Foundation of CT found that two out of three CT small businesses can’t afford to offer health benefits to employees. A tiny fraction (6%) of small business owners who don’t offer coverage, don’t want to. Among those that offer health benefits, most have had to shift more…
Read More