Connecticut addressing broker shortage amid The Great Unwinding

By Susan Rupe

A Connecticut program that aims to help members of underserved communities enroll in health coverage while increasing the number of insurance brokers of color in those communities is more than halfway through its first year.

Access Health CT, Connecticut’s health insurance exchange, launched its Broker Academy on June 1, 2022. This is a first-of-its-kind program aiming to reduce health disparities and the number of uninsured people in the state, according to James Michel, CEO of Access Health CT.

The program has several parts, Michel told InsuranceNewsNet.

The first part is to create a pathway to license health insurance brokers by recruiting and building the skillsets of people who live and work in historically underserved communities throughout Connecticut.

Michel said that there were no health insurance brokers living within low-income urban communities in Connecticut. So the program worked on two fronts: inviting people of color to apply to become brokers and then encouraging members of those underserved communities to work with the newly-licensed brokers to enroll in coverage.

He said the program’s goal was to recruit, train and license 100 brokers. Seventy-one people applied and of that applicant group, 28 completed the program and became licensed to sell and advise people on health insurance.

Candidates for the first year of the program program had to be at least 18 years of age; a resident of Bridgeport, Hartford, or New Haven (or surrounding areas); have a high school diploma or GED; supply between one to three professional reference letters; submit a personal statement on why they would be a good fit for this program; have a demonstrated history of community involvement or service; and have strong communication and customer service skills. Now as the program enters its second year, candidates can come from anywhere in Connecticut.

“We recruited applicants through churches and other community organizations,” Michel said. “We had a detailed application process and the applicants also needed to provide recommendations. We looked for applicants who have an understanding of the communities they serve, who understands the culture, who speaks the language, who knows how to be effective in communicating.”

Training, licensing, mentoring

Michel said Access Health CT paid for the training and licensing of these new health insurance brokers, then matched them with experienced brokers to mentor them for three months as they began working with the public.

After the brokers were licensed and mentored, the next part of the program is for them to hit the streets, helping members of their community enroll in health insurance through Connecticut’s health insurance exchange.

“The driver for creating the Broker Academy was to recruit and develop brokers who live in communities that didn't have any representation at all, that needed trusted advisors who understand those communities, who are able to go to the churches, the stores, the barbershops and beauty shops and can connect and explain to these underserved populations how critical it is that you must have health insurance to protect yourself and your family,” Michel said.

Another Broker Academy is scheduled to begin recruiting and licensing brokers in February, Michel said, with the goal of obtaining 50 new brokers for the program.

Helping through The Great Unwinding

The next part of the program is to help people in underserved communities keep their coverage, Michel said. About 28% of Connecticut’s population is served by Medicaid, but hundreds of thousands could see their coverage status in jeopardy as a result of what is called The Great Unwinding.

Millions of those who enrolled in Medicaid coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic are on the brink of losing that coverage, after the omnibus spending bill enacted by Congress in December changed the enrollment rules.

States that received extra Medicaid funding under a 2020 COVID-19 relief bill had to agree to pause beneficiaries’ eligibility verifications. The continuous enrollment in Medicare was set to end when the public health emergency is over, which is likely to happen sometime in 2023.

Under the $1.65 trillion federal spending bill approved by Congress in December, states can begin disenrolling people from Medicaid in April even if the public health emergency designation remains in place. Many of those who will lose coverage are likely to qualify for coverage under the Affordable Care Act, according to public-health officials and advocates.

In Connecticut, that means about 430,000 Medicaid recipients must redetermine their eligibility to remain on Medicaid.

Michel said the brokers trained through the Broker Academy will be tasked with going into the communities to help Medicaid recipients who may lose their eligibility in the coming months.

Brokers can help Medicaid recipients re-enroll in Medicaid if they are still eligible, or can help them enroll in subsidized coverage on the state’s health insurance exchange.

The big challenge in the unwinding, Michel said, is that many Medicaid recipients have not had their addresses or other contact information updated since they first enrolled in the program. As a result, it may be difficult to reach them to let them know they must re-enroll.

“So you may have someone who doesn’t know they lost Medicaid coverage until they go to the pharmacy for their prescription and find out it’s not covered,” he said. “The pharmacy can give them a number they can call to update their contact information and get information on how to get coverage.”

Michel said reaching out to Medicaid recipients to educate them about their options will be a big job, but he is confident that Access Health CT can get all of them to remain covered, whether through Medicaid or other sources.

“Our data shows that between 30% and 50% of them will continue to qualify for Medicaid, and the rest will be eligible for subsidized coverage through our state exchange,” he said.

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.