There's just a month to go before those without health insurance can go online to buy it through a state-sponsored website. The goal of the Affordable Care Act is to offer health insurance to more people at a lower cost. And now, the next step is upon us.
Come Oct. 1, the online marketplace where you can go and price shop that insurance will go live. "I feel that we're in as good a shape as I think we could be in at this point and the feds seem to agree with that." That's Kevin Counihan, CEO of Access Health CT -- the agency that is coordinating the state's role in expanding health care. He says his folks are working around the clock until October. Connecticut is in the minority of states implementing its own exchange.
Others have chosen to let the federal government run it for them. Counihan says he's optimistic about the rollout of the new health care system in Connecticut But he's also pretty good and reducing expectations. In short, don't expect the beginning of October to be a huge event in history. "I don't want people to think that, in these first few days of October, we're going to see tens of thousands of people enrolled. Because it's not going to happen."
That's because some folks may not be willing to pay for insurance three months before they need it. And that's a fair point. Instead, Counihan says it may not be until next March that the state says a sizeable enrollment in its new health care exchange.
