Access Health CT, the state’s health care exchange, finally knows what it will be able to offer its consumers next year, as ConnectiCare agrees to continue to offer plans. But the problem of unaffordable healthcare remains.
Jim Wadleigh the CEO of Access Health CT has had what he calls a tumultuous week. He describes himself as a bystander as Farmington-based ConnectiCare went through a titanic struggle with the state’s insurance department over raising the rates it plans to charge on the exchange next year.
"But fortunately, we’ve been able to come out the other side basically the exact same place that we started, which is great," Wadleigh told WNPR.
In the end, ConnectiCare, which provides almost half of the plans sold on the exchange this year, backed down, and will be back again in 2017 with a new offering.
But that resolution doesn’t change the fact that the number of insurers on the exchange is now down from four to two. United Health pulled out, and HealthyCT, the local co-op, effectively went bust.
In the coming weeks, as open enrollment gets underway, letters will go out to all customers explaining the new rates, and urging people to choose a new plan.
Wadleigh said they’ll pay special attention to those who have to change provider.
"If it looks like they haven’t done anything, we will proactively reach out and call them to make sure they don’t go through any period of time without coverage," he said.
The other change: rates have risen all round. ConnectiCare may not have been granted the 27 percent average hike it was looking for, but its plans will rise by some 17 percent in cost. Anthem, the exchange's other provider, can raise its rates an average of 22 percent.
Wadleigh acknowledged that double-digit increases this year mean insurance may become unaffordable for some families, but he said the fixes are likely to take time.
"There are a lot of people locally all looking at ways for Connecticut to change the health care model and try to drive more efficiency into it," he said. And he doesn't believe the long-lasting answers will be reached by a root-and-branch overhaul. "It’s time to start with pilots and start with some small, little models in communities to see what works and what doesn't work."
Open enrollment on the exchange begins in November.
