Some 30,000 Connecticut residents are at immediate risk of losing their health care coverage, according to officials with Access Health CT.
The reason is simple: None of them provided accurate or up-to-date income information that dictates the amount in subsidies for which they could qualify in order to help to cover the costs of coverage.
“This isn’t just Connecticut doing this,” explained Jason Madrak, chief marketing officer for Access Health CT. “"This is actually just part of the law that we're actually required to verify this information. If there's a discrepancy, you need to provide us with some verification information.”
Federal health care law requires anyone who uses subsidies to pay for a federally facilitated or state-based health insurance plan to provide proof of income showing they’re eligible for public assistance.
Access Health CT, like the federal government and other states, use several databases to find information on individuals’ income.
"As an example, if someone comes on, we ping the system and it says, 'Hey, you made $60,000 per year based on your tax return,' but you say this past year you had a massive change in your status, we say, 'Please provide us with some verification, a pay stub, etc. to indicate that you now have this new status,'" Madrak said.
Madrak is urging consumers to come forward with their most up-to-date income information. He said the system is designed to deal with income figures that aren’t necessarily precise, but fall in line to qualify for subsidies.
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"There is a 10 percent plus or minus that you can operate within. In excess of that, you have to provide this documentation," Madrak explained, "so when this process goes through, are individuals who will maintain their coverage but will see their premiums go up because their levels of tax credit based on the income we have is going to be adjusted down."
To maintain their current coverage, residents insured through Access Health CT must provide the state with this information by Dec. 1.
