HUSKY parents’ cut expected to impact 15,300 starting in October

In this year’s budget, Connecticut policymakers cut Medicaid/HUSKY coverage for 15,300 low-income parents and caretakers of children. The timing of the cuts and options for other state coverage vary depending on each families’ circumstances. It’s all very confusing, both for HUSKY members and the rest of us. Thankfully, the CT Health Foundation has a new brief that lays it out.

The cuts will affect Connecticut parents and caretakers with incomes between 138% and 160% of the federal poverty level, which varies by family size and year. (I warned you it was confusing.) This year for a family of two, that is $28,207 to $32,704 in annual income. A single mother with one child, working full time for minimum wage will lose HUSKY under this cut.

For timing – The cuts start this October, but most affected parents will get another year of HUSKY coverage. (The reasons are also complicated.)

For options —  Some of the parents losing HUSKY may be eligible for a relatively new state program, Covered Connecticut. (This is how they got legislators to vote for it.) Covered Connecticut subsidizes coverage through private insurance companies on Access Health CT, our state’s Affordable Care Act health insurance exchange.

If you’re still with me – Covered Connecticut uses federal and state funds to subsidize insurance for qualified state residents. But not all HUSKY parents losing coverage will qualify for Covered Connecticut. If they have a job that offers health benefits, even skimpy high deductible coverage, they won’t qualify. Employer coverage may be unreasonably expensive for low-income families, but they are still disqualified. In any case, the federal funds that subsidize Covered Connecticut are set to expire after next year.

In 2015, Connecticut policymakers cut coverage for 18,903 HUSKY parents. Unlike this year’s cut, Access Health CT coverage was not subsidized by the state in 2015. Low-income parents had to pay any monthly premiums and cost sharing such as deductibles and copays. That year, legislators required the state to track affected parents’ coverage. After four months, about two in five parents (39%) were able to qualify for Medicaid through a different category. About one in six parents (16%) were covered through Access Health CT. But we don’t know what happened to almost half of parents (42%), who likely became uninsured.

The bottom line is that, starting in October, low-income parents caring for their children could lose coverage and become uninsured. As the Foundation makes clear, our state has a long history of providing good healthcare for residents who can’t afford coverage through our HUSKY program. Connecticut is justly proud of that record. Unfortunately, this cut could undermine our progress.

The Foundation makes five very reasonable recommendations for policymakers that could protect families.

• First, families need help navigating this confusing landscape — help identifying and applying for any options that could work for them.
• The state should identify how many parents won’t be eligible for Covered Connecticut and find a way to keep them covered.
• If subsidies expire, there must be a commitment to ensure Covered Connecticut continues for those who successfully enroll.
• We need surveys of affected families to track what’s happening to them and what they need to stay well.
• The state needs to collect data on parents losing coverage to monitor the impact as we have done in the past. Monitoring should include access to care, health outcomes, problems affording care, and the broader impact on families.

Connecticut can also consider reversing the cuts and restoring coverage for low-income HUSKY parents.