UnitedHealthcare will stop offering plans through Connecticut’s health insurance exchange after this year, continuing the company’s departure from the state-level marketplaces created by the federal health law.
insurance
Posted inJustice
Malloy hears from homeowners with crumbling basements
ENFIELD — The good news Wednesday night was that at least a dozen of the people waiting to question Gov. Dannel P. Malloy had minimal interest in Connecticut’s intractable budget problems. The bad news: They came to talk about their crumbling basements, a problem that may affect thousands.
Posted inHealth
Critics urge more transparency in Anthem-Cigna merger review
Saying that “all eyes will be on Connecticut,” critics of two pending mergers of major health insurers have asked the state’s insurance commissioner to take steps they say would increase transparency in the review of Anthem’s proposed acquisition of Cigna.
Posted inHealth
U.S. Supreme Court deals blow to CT health data collection effort
In a ruling that could have reverberations for a Connecticut health reform effort, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that certain health plans could not be required by a state to disclose data for use in a health care claims database.
Posted inHealth
About 8,000 CT exchange customers didn’t pay first bill
About 8,000 people who signed up for coverage through Connecticut’s health insurance exchange missed the deadline for their first payment and lost coverage, exchange CEO Jim Wadleigh said Monday.
Posted inHealth
State says UnitedHealthcare can’t ax broker commissions
The Connecticut Insurance Department has blocked UnitedHealthcare’s plan to stop paying broker commissions for plans sold through the state’s health insurance exchange, but will let them pay a lower rate.
Posted inHealth
116,019 CT residents signed up for Obamacare plans
Updated at 6:50 p.m.
In all, 116,019 Connecticut residents signed up for private insurance through the state’s health insurance exchange, Access Health CT, during the open enrollment period that ended last week, officials said Monday.
Posted inHealth
Call center outage hits Access Health CT during peak hours
With less than a week until the open enrollment period closes, three of the four call centers servicing Access Health CT were offline during peak hours on Monday because of the weekend’s winter weather, according to a press release from the health care exchange.
Posted inHealth
How to manage a high-deductible health plan
High-deductible health plans, which are increasingly common, don’t just require people to pay more when they get care; they also leave people with more to understand, from figuring out how much care costs to handling bills that aren’t always clear. Here are some tips from experts on how to manage a high-deductible plan. This story is the latest in a series on how to better navigate the health care system.
Posted inHealth
With 10 days left, ConnectiCare leads exchange sign-ups
ConnectiCare continues to lead the market among customers of Connecticut’s health insurance exchange, with 52 percent of the nearly 109,000 people signed up so far for 2016 coverage.
Posted inHealth
CT insurance exchange to tighten sign-up rule
Connecticut’s health insurance exchange plans to get tougher on those seeking to sign up for private insurance coverage outside the open enrollment period, following concerns that people signing up midyear have been driving up costs for insurers.
Posted inHealth
How well will new rules on health care cost transparency work?
Lisa Freeman recently tried an experiment: Before having a medical diagnostic test, she tried to figure out what it would cost. “It took no less than five phone calls, and I still never got to the end of the thing,” she said. A major transparency law intended to change that is taking effect this year. How will it work in practice? Health care providers say it might be bumpy at first.
Posted inHealth
Five stories that can make 2016 a big year in health care
“I haven’t seen a time in my almost 10 years here in the state where there’s so much happening in health care,” says state Healthcare Advocate Victoria Veltri. Here are five health care stories to watch in 2016.
Posted inHealth
100,314 signed up for Obamacare coverage to start 2016
Just over 100,000 people are signed up to receive private insurance coverage as of Jan. 1through Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange. But exchange officials expressed concern that thousands of current customers could lose their coverage or the federal tax credits that discount their premiums.
Posted inHealth
Ethics office won’t call for Wade to recuse herself on Cigna deal
The Office of State Ethics is not calling for Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade to recuse herself from overseeing her agency’s review of Anthem’s proposal to buy Cigna, where Wade previously worked and her husband serves as an attorney. But Executive Director Carol Carson said the office has raised concerns.