Insurance Brokers Planning to Depart CT Insurance Exchange

Access Health CT is the state’s health insurance exchange, set up in response to the Affordable Care Act. In recent months, several carriers have dropped out and in August, a few brokers announced plans to part ways.
According to a report from the CT Mirror, some of the existing insurance companies involved in the exchange have decided to cut their commissions to about 250 participating brokers. While the amounts were relatively insignificant, brokers received a $10 to $20 bonus every time they referred a customer to an Access Health CT plan.
Why the change? The Mirror’s report indicates that, because of the higher rates all insurance companies have proposed for 2017, two of the existing Access Health carriers – Anthem and ConnectiCare – decided to balance out premiums by cutting out the commission.
Since the ACA went into effect, brokers have been behind 40 percent of all plans sold through the health insurance exchange. Further, these individuals who got their ACA plans through a broker tended to be more satisfied than those who didn’t. As a result, fewer participating brokers are estimated to affect 2017 enrollment.
Regarding this change, Access Health CEO Jim Wadleigh told the press, “We will lose a well-functioning process to assist residents of Connecticut in the selection of health plans. There’s confusion and uncertainty with [brokers]. We’re really not sure how to proceed at this point.”
Additionally, HealthyCT is planning to shut down at the end of 2016 and United Healthcare decided not to offer ACA-eligible plans for 2017. Also, Aetna declined participation in Connecticut after experiencing losses in other states over its ACA plans.
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