Just over 8,800 people signed up for health care coverage in the past month through Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange.
Data released Tuesday show that early enrollment trends have continued, including an older customer base for private insurance plans, a higher-than-anticipated proportion of enrollees picking the most costly and comprehensive type of coverage and nearly two-thirds of private insurance customers picking plans offered by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the state’s largest insurer.
In all, 12,648 people have signed up for coverage through Access Health since enrollment began Oct. 1. Of those, just under 60 percent will receive private insurance plans and about 41 percent will receive Medicaid coverage.[iframe frameborder=”0″ height=”350″ scrolling=”no” src=”https://projects.ctmirror.org/content/2013/11/19-enrollment/” width=”100%”]
The population of private insurance customers skews heavily toward older people. Thirty-nine percent are between ages 55 and 64, while 22 percent are aged 45 to 54. Nineteen percent are in the coveted 18 to 34 age group, important to insurers because they tend to have lower health care costs and can help balance out the cost of older members’ medical care.
HealthyCT, a new nonprofit insurer created with funds made available through the federal health law, continues to lag behind its competitors, with only 2.4 percent of enrollees so far; that’s 168 people. Anthem got 62.4 percent of the enrollees, while 35.2 percent chose plans offered by ConnectiCare.