People still signing up for health coverage under Affordable Care Act

The top executive of a quasi-public agency that provides Connecticut residents with a health care coverage marketplace under the Federal Affordable Care Act says the threat of the law being eliminated by the Trump Administration isn’t keeping people from signing up.

“Our data does not show us that we have struggled to enroll people past the elections, said Jim Wadleigh, chief executive officer of Access Health CT.

This year’s open enrollment period end Jan. 31 and, as of Jan. 20, there are 106,891 consumers enrolled in health care offerings made available through Access Health CT. And the agency’s Small Business Program — which offers health care plans for small businesses with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees — has grown to record enrollment numbers, Wadleigh said.

“We’re seeing the highest membership growth since the program’s start,” he said.

But despite those gains, Wadleigh said the transition between presidential administrations has created confusion in the Connecticut health care marketplace.

“Since the inauguration, we have seen an uptick in the number of calls that we have fielded,” he said. “There is a lot of confusion about whether it (Affordable Care Act) is still around.”

If the decision is made at the federal to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, Connecticut health care consumers would have some time to make other arrangements. State law requires insurers to provide six months’ notice of plans to withdraw coverage, said Donna Tommelleo, communications director for the Connecticut Department of Insurance.