State Extends Deadline For Insurers To Decide Future In Health Exchange

Aug. 30--Uncertainty over federal health insurance policy has forced Connecticut officials to give more time to the two remaining insurers to decide if they will continue selling plans through the state health insurance exchange's individual marketplace next year.

The state Insurance Department and Access Health CT, the state's health insurance exchange, on Tuesday gave ConnectiCare Benefits Inc. and Anthem Inc. until Sept. 15, a two-week extension, to make their decisions.

Open enrollment begins Nov. 1 for customers to choose a health insurance plan.

The extension gives Access Health CT and customers a "better understanding of what to expect and when," said Jim Wadleigh, chief executive officer of Access Health CT.

Congress and President Donald Trump have been unable to find a way to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as they promised. The result is uncertainty about the future of cost sharing reductions, a federal subsidy to reduce the amount paid for deductibles, co-payments and coinsurance.

It's not clear that Congress will continue the subsidy.

The Insurance Department asked Anthem and ConnectiCare Benefits last week to submit a supplemental filing that considers the absence of the cost sharing reduction subsidy for 2018.

The Insurance Department's decision on whether to allow double-digit rate increases sought by ConnectiCare and Anthem is expected to influence whether either insurer will remain on the exchange.

The Insurance Department will make its decision on the rates before Sept. 15, Commissioner Katharine Wade said. The extension gives the agency the "maximum flexibility to make rate determinations," she said.

Anthem Health Plans is seeking an average 33.8 percent increase for policies, including those sold under Access Health CT. ConnectiCare Benefits is looking to boost its rate by an average 17.5 percent for policies sold on the exchange.

The insurers say younger and healthier people are avoiding the Affordable Care Act, leaving a risk pool of sicker people whose reliance on health care is driving up costs. They also have cited unsettled federal health insurance policy in Washington.

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