Enrollment in state’s health exchange rises

HARTFORD — Even with a debate about health care continuing to rage on the national level, enrollment in the state’s health insurance marketplace jumped about 2 percent during the most recent open enrollment period, which the exchange’s CEO called “exceptional.”

During a press conference Monday afternoon, Access Health CT CEO Jim Wadleigh reported that, during the 2017 open enrollment season, 114,134 people signed up for coverage through the marketplace — roughly 3,000 more than enrolled during the 2016 season, for an increase of 2.3 percent.

Wadleigh pointed out that the bump happened in spite of the fact that this was the shortest open enrollment period since the exchange launched.

Customers had only seven weeks to sign up for coverage, compared with three months during previous open enrollment seasons and six months during the first open enrollment.

“This was the fifth open enrollment period ... and every year it gets better and every year it gets more exciting,” he said.

The 2017 season was a particularly challenging one, according to both Wadleigh and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman, who opened the press conference talking about how national events have shaped and will continue to shape health care coverage in Connecticut.

Even before taking office, President Donald Trump made repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act one of his chief objectives. The Affordable Care Act is a major piece of health reform legislation — also known as Obamacare — that, among other things, established health insurance exchanges.

Even though efforts to repeal the legislation weren’t successful, many supporters of the Affordable Care Act are concerned that Trump is attempting to torpedo it in other ways, such as shortening the enrollment period. Even more disconcerting to advocates is the Republican tax bill that recently passed congress and does away with the individual mandate that requires most Americans to have at least some insurance or face a penalty.

However, the mandate is still in place during 2018, meaning that those who go uncovered this year will still have to pay a fine of $695 per adult and $347.50 per child or 2.5 percent of the family’s modified adjusted gross income — whichever is higher.

During Monday’s press conference, Wyman assured state residents that “here in Connecticut, we are working to mitigate against these threats” to the Affordable Care Act.

She said that, later that day, she planned to meet with state legislators about how to protect health coverage in the state — including the possibility of a state insurance mandate that would replace the national one.

In addition to the bump in overall enrollment, Wadleigh pointed out that about 12 percent of those who enrolled were brand new customers and 18 percent were returning customers who had a policy previously, but not in 2017.

Even though the deadline has passed, Wadleigh said open enrollment isn’t totally over.

He said about 23,000 customers still need to send in verification documents so they can start coverage. He also stressed the importance of all customers making their first insurance payments on time, pointing out that the exchange typically loses about 15 percent of customers during the first month because they didn’t pay in time.

Wyman said this year’s numbers show how crucial health care coverage is to Connecticut residents.

“That’s why it’s so important that government at every level is working to improve health care affordability and the Affordable Care Act,” she said.