What you need to know about the end of the 2014 open enrollment period, the insurance options you’ll have once it’s over, when you’ll face a penalty if you don’t get covered and the possibility of getting federal financial help buying a health plan outside the exchange.
Affordable Care Act
Posted inHealth, Politics
Latest Obamacare tweak could revive CT debate on extending health plans
The federal government now says that people who renewed their health plans late last year to avoid having to buy new plans that comply with the federal health law can keep them for an extra two years — but only if their states allow it.
Posted inHealth
Analysis: Obamacare won’t replace Connecticut’s mental health cuts
An early analysis suggests that the assumptions behind a $15.2 million cut to mental health and substance abuse treatment services in this year’s budget aren’t being realized and could leave some service providers with significantly less funding than lawmakers intended.
Posted inHealth
For some new Medicaid clients, delays getting care, prescriptions
People who are deemed eligible for Medicaid get a letter to use as proof of coverage until their insurance ID cards arrive, but some have found that pharmacies and doctors won’t accept it, leaving them unable to get care or medication.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Obama visit may spare Esty from Obamacare vote
Washington – President Obama’s visit to Central Connecticut State University Wednesday may spare Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, from having to make another controversial vote. Esty plans to be among the Connecticut politicians who will be on hand to welcome the president. Obama is visiting Connecticut to meet with Gov. Dannel Malloy and other New England governors to highlight the president’s campaign to raise the federal minimum wage – now set at $7.25.
Posted inHealth
Feds consider scaling back Medicaid estate recovery
For some adults, getting Medicaid coverage means that when they die, the state could claim some or all of their assets to repay the medical care they received. That’s left some people who qualify for the program under the federal health law wary of joining. And now the federal government, concerned about the effect on enrollment, plans to explore scaling back the practice.
Posted inHealth
CT mental health clinics brace for state cuts tied to Obamacare
While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has touted a proposal to increase spending on mental health services, agencies that run mental health and substance abuse clinics are bracing for more than $10 million in cuts to state grants starting July 1. And they say the cut could mean treating fewer people.
Posted inHealth
Access Health CT marketing Obamacare “exchange in a box”
Connecticut’s health insurance exchange has run more smoothly than many of its counterparts across the country and now officials at the state’s insurance marketplace are in discussions about franchising the system to other states.
Posted inHealth
Access Health CT Spanish-language website to launch Friday
After months of delays, the Spanish-language website for Connecticut’s health insurance exchange is slated to be available Friday.
Posted inHealth
Access Health CT claims an ‘Olympic bump’
Connecticut’s health insurance exchange has been advertising heavily during broadcasts of the winter games, and in the week after the opening ceremony, the number of daily enrollments rose by 67 percent.
Posted inHealth
Access Health website will be limited this weekend
“Substantial portions” of the website of Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange, will be unavailable between 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 and 8 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18 because of system maintenance by federal agencies.
Posted inHealth
Questions and answers on the latest ACA delay
On Monday the Obama administration announced another delay in rolling out the Affordable Care Act, weakening the requirement to offer coverage next year for large employers and postponing it for smaller ones. Here’s what it means.
Posted inHealth
Malloy: Let nurse practitioners in CT work independent of doctors
The Malloy administration wants to let nurse practitioners work independently of doctors, a potentially significant, and controversial, shift in the health care landscape aimed at expanding access to care.
Posted inHealth
Obamacare employer mandate delayed again, for some
The Obama administration on Monday announced that the federal health law’s controversial employer mandate would be delayed again for mid-sized employers and that large companies would get a break on their coverage requirements next year.
Posted inHealth
Malloy, Wyman celebrate Access Health CT milestone
New Haven — Access Health CT, the state-run health insurance exchange created as part of the Affordable Care Act, celebrated a milestone Monday: Passing its self-imposed goal of signing up 100,000 residents and small businesses for health coverage.