The CEO of CT’s health insurance marketplace saw few people of color were brokers. So he did something about it. [Hartford Courant]

When James Michel became the CEO of Access Health CT, one of the areas he wanted to focus on was how he and the organization could address health disparities within communities of color.

One of his ideas to address these disparities in the state is the new Access Health CT Broker Academy, which works to lower health inequalities, along with the number of uninsured people in Connecticut, and to provide education and work opportunities.

The academy provides a track to become a licensed health insurance broker, with the focus of recruiting individuals in “historically underserved communities through Connecticut.” The first cohort began in the beginning of June and recruitment for other cohorts now is happening in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, and other surrounding areas.

Michel said he was inspired to create the Broker Academy after Access Health CT’s Health Disparities and Social Determinants of Health in Connecticut was released in February 2021. Using data, the researchers plotted lives of two fictitious men and their health disparities - one Black male from Hartford and one white male from West Hartford.

Tracking the line from birth to death for these fictitious individuals, they found that the life expectancy was almost 20 years different, as the Black male dies at the age of 68 - due to diabetes, while the white male lives until 86.

“We looked at what are the drivers of health disparities, and one of them, the toughest part is poverty. In other words, lack of access to timely information for knowledgeable individuals in your community,” Michel said. “That led us to create the Broker Academy. This is one of the ways we can help address the dearth of information in communities of color.”

Michel also said that along with the results they found with the fictional individuals, the data showed them that there are almost zero Black or brown health insurance brokers in the state’s big cities or in communities where many people of color live.

“We created the Broker Academy, and the intent was to recruit up to 100 Black and brown folks who grew up and live in those communities,” he said. “We targeted Hartford, New Britain, New Haven, and…Bridgeport to start out with. We did a tour [where]... the impact was the greatest, so we could spend the better part of three to four months recruiting…”

To recruit students for the first cohort and become a trusted source within communities of color, Michel said he formed partnerships with established community organizations, where he was able to qualify 70 individuals to join the Broker Academy.

Michel said that training is important because in Connecticut you must become a licensed broker to advise anyone on what insurance to purchase, along with receiving regulated certified training, and passing the state exam.

Once the students become licensed, they will be assigned to work with an experienced broker in the Greater Hartford, New Haven, or Bridgeport areas.

“There’s brokers that we have had experiences with for the last 10 years and they have committed to be a mentor…so these new brokers will be working with them at their place of business, just to get exposure to the knowledge…that they need to get on their way. Some of them may want to work for the broker [they are assigned to],” Michel said.

The Broker Academy program also takes away financial barriers by paying all of the associated costs for the certified training and testing with the goal to have more insurance brokers of color in the state to become a knowledgeable and trusted community resource.

“This profession…to this very day, are mostly white men, in their mid to upper 50s. They own their own business, so when you’re an agent you are self employed,” Michel said. “You earn commission from every product you sell. Typically when they retire, they pass it on to their sons. So it stays like this. I’ve been in this industry for 30 years. That’s the history of this industry. A lot of folks who are not part of the industry, have no idea how to become a broker.”

Along with being a trusted community resource, students who complete the training and pass the state test have an unlimited earning potential, Michel said.

“For example, if you’re a broker with assets out and you sell product in exchange, you get $15 for every person you enroll per month. If you want 1,000 people, that’s $15,000 a month. I was going around talking with community leaders and talking about the earning potential. They were amazed…but they were more interested in having people in their communities be a resource for their members,” he said.

“So, we believe that this will have measurable results, not just to the economic benefits to communities and people….but also in improving the quality of life for folks who do not have access to knowledgeable people who look like them... which is something that’s lacking right now at a very high level,” he said.

Improving the quality of life for others is what inspired husband and wife, Venton and Monica Forbes to become students in the first cohort for the Broker Academy.

Previously involved in community engagement from his former job, Venton Forbes had an established relationship with Michel.

Once Venton Forbes was told by Michel about the new opportunity for the Broker Academy, he said he instantly wanted to share it with a larger audience.

As leaders of the Health and Wellness ministry at their church, The First Cathedral in Bloomfield, Venton Forbes said the opportunity fell into line with the work they were already engaged in.

“I set up a meeting for James and Tammy Hendricks, the director of outreach for Access Health CT, to come to our church and meet our leadership team,” Venton Forbes said. “From there, we established a date that they were going to return…to share with the entire congregation, because I was just blown away with the opportunity and information that was shared.

“So that’s how we really got to know about the organization. I’m one of those guys that when I believe in something, I want to lead by example. So I signed up to participate in the Broker Academy training program,” he said.

Venton and Monica Forbes have completed their training and passed their state exams, and said they are looking forward to continuing their process of being matched with an experienced broker mentor.

About the impact the couple hopes to have on communities of color in Connecticut, as licensed health brokers, Monica Forbes said that she feels it will be a little bit of a ripple effect.

“I think, not only will it be partially beneficial for our family, but it’ll also benefit our entire community. Health care is expensive. Today, many people who don’t have health insurance often don’t obtain proper health care or wait to seek medical attention until it’s too late,” she said.

“So I think that if we help increase the number of insured people in Hartford, that we very well may lead to a decrease in the mortality rate in the community at large,” she said.

Venton Forbes said that being a licensed health broker will help him to continue to give his all to the community, through educating and engaging members in conversation about their health insurance options.

“We’re here to educate them, to let them be aware of this resource that they have, by having adequate health care. Also, just the financial impact that it will have on the next generation. Monica talked about that ripple effect. There are so many people in our community because they don’t have adequate health insurance, they died prematurely,” he said.

For more information about the Broker Academy program, email AHCT.BrokerAcademy.ct.gov.