Still the best kept secret in CT healthcare – CID insurer report card

The 2025 annual CT health insurance plan comparison report from the CT Insurance Department (CID) is an underappreciated gold mine of information – for people and employers choosing  plans and for researchers looking for trends and high performers. CID has been publishing the report since at least 2011.

The Consumer Report Card on Health Insurance Carriers in Connecticut definitely needs a better name, but it’s a state treasure.

For consumers choosing a plan, the report has terms consumers should know (really important – healthcare uses some twisted up, misleading language), numbers to call for help at CID and the plans, and a plan comparison worksheet.

Consumers and employers can compare insurers on member satisfaction, numbers of participating providers by type and county (important for access), and quality. Measures include cancer screening rates, immunization rates, prenatal and preventive care access, controlling high blood pressure (critical outcome measure), tons of detailed behavioral health stats, and more.

For researchers, the plan includes enrollment numbers by plan (Anthem is still the largest by far), fully vs. self-insured, and large vs. small group vs. individual plans. There’s a ton of information on claim denials and utilization review tools plans use (e.g. prior authorization) by plan and type of review. There is also a page with the savings per member from each type of review – which is a very different way of looking at prior authorizations.

Be sure to scroll down to page 61, where you’ll find the plans’ Medical Loss Ratios (MLR). A wonderful metric with a terrible name. The MLR measures how much of our money (premiums) the plans spent on the medical care we need (as opposed to administration and profit). The report includes spending per member and utilization across services.

I’ll be lost in this data for a few days.