CIGNA Corp. may have made the biggest headlines of any health insurance company in Connecticut this year in its decision to make Bloomfield its new corporate headquarters.
The company appears to be making itself right at home in the state in other ways as well.
As HMO enrollment continues to plummet in Connecticut, CIGNA increased its own in-state HMO enrollment by nearly 150 percent last year, according to data from the Connecticut Insurance Department. That helped boost CIGNA”™s overall enrollment by nearly half to lead the five carriers that offer both HMOs and indemnity-managed care plans.
Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield remains by far the largest health insurance carrier doing business in Connecticut, with the Wellpoint Inc. subsidiary”™s nearly 1.4 million policyholders constituting close to half the number of people with coverage in the private market.
On paper, ConnectiCare Inc. had the steepest declines in HMO and overall health insurance enrollment at 18 percent ”“ if one excludes totals from Health Net of the Northeast, which sold off much of its Connecticut account base to UnitedHealth Group Inc. But while Health Net insurance enrollment dropped 44 percent, UnitedHealth did not appear to benefit from an accompanying increase.
Despite stubbornly high unemployment, still-escalating medical costs and flat population trends, Connecticut carriers increased their total policyholder count in 2010 ”“ by 0.6 percent. While HMO enrollment fell a full 25 percent, a 4 percent increase in the far-larger number of people on managed care indemnity care plans was enough to make up the difference.
Connecticut small businesses and their families continue to face among the highest insurance costs in the nation, according to a November study by the New York City-based Commonwealth Fund, with an average premium of $15,300. Connecticut also ranked in the top 10 states with the highest deductibles at $3,500 for the average family policy, with health plans having escalated deductibles in recent years in exchange for otherwise limiting increases in their regular premiums.
In 2011, the percentage of small businesses offering health insurance dropped from 57 percent of all those surveyed to 53 percent, according to a poll published in mid-November by Mercer.
Overall, however, Connecticut ranks among the 20 states where businesses of all sizes shoulder the biggest share of health-care costs, the Commonwealth Fund found, with the average employee paying about $3,800 annually for family coverage. Factor in median income, and Connecticut trails only New Jersey for the premiums paid as a percentage of median income, at just under 15 percent.
The big unknown is health reform as it plays out at the federal and state level. Connecticut is pushing ahead with efforts to create a health-insurance exchange that will provide a one-stop shop for individuals who are unable to get coverage, whether through their employer or otherwise.
And the U.S. Supreme Court agreed in November to hear a challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act brought by the National Federation of Independent Business, with NFIB arguing that a mandate under which individuals must procure insurance is unconstitutional, and that the entire law is unworkable without the mandate in place.
It is making for a continued climate of uncertainty for businesses, families, physicians and insurers alike, as the calendar flips to 2012 and the 2014 date approaches for full implementation of federal health reform.
“We”™re preparing our business for the future, regardless of what happens with any rulings that occur,” said Gail Boudreaux, executive vice president of UnitedHealth, in a conference call reviewing the company”™s third quarter results. “So as you think about exchanges and preparing to be in a more consumer-focused marketplace, adding transparency tools, preparing our products with more affordable price points across the boards ”“ we”™re looking at all of those things and we”™re in the process of getting ready for that now, and we”™re seeing some of that implemented in the marketplace as we speak.”
