Deadline extended for insurers to remain on Access Health CT

Insurers have until Sept. 15 to decide whether they will participate next year in Access Health CT, Connecticut’s health care insurance exchange, according to State Insurance Department Commissioner Katharine L. Wade.

The exchange, Access Health CT, plans to open enrollment on Nov. 1. The original due date was Sept. 1.

“The department will make final rate determinations in advance of Sept. 15,” Wade said. “We appreciate Access Health CT”™s willingness to work with us to provide the maximum flexibility to make rate determinations.”

“This extension gives Access Health CT and our customers a better understanding of what to expect and when,” said AHCT CEO Jim Wadleigh. “It provides the carriers with the time they need to decide if they”™ll offer plans for 2018 and allows our organization to prepare the best way possible for the upcoming open enrollment period.”

Last week, Wade asked exchange carriers Anthem and ConnectiCare to submit new rate filings for 2018, in the face of what it called “market uncertainty” over whether the federal government will discontinue cost-sharing reduction payments, which provide financial assistance for consumers via lower co-payments and deductibles.