Open enrollment in the state's health insurance marketplace begins Saturday, and state officials announced goals for the enrollment period during a press conference Friday.
The state's call centers and in-person locations will be open through Feb. 15.
"This is a very big day," said Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, who chairs the board of the Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange. "We're ready for a second successful year."
Last year, the state cut its uninsured rate nearly in half from 7.9 percent to 4 percent. During the 2014-2015 cycle, officials with Access Health CT hope to enroll 70,000 people and once again cut the uninsured rate in half.
"It'll be a challenge," cautioned Wyman.
Locating the people who haven't signed up is the most important piece, according to state officials.
“From a statistics perspective, we know who they are, we know where they reside, we know the zip codes that they are in, we generally know the age bands that they fall into, and that has allowed us to do a very pointed media campaign into those locations," explained Access Health CT CEO Jim Wadleigh.
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The Connecticut marketplace was widely considered to be perhaps the most effective state-based exchange in the country when open enrollment began in 2013.
It was so successful that just three months ago, the federal Department of Health and Human Services tapped Connecticut's first marketplace CEO, Kevin Counihan, to run the federal exchange that most states utilize.
"We really have become the national model," Wadleigh told reporters. "Maryland is using our technology for this open enrollment."
He also said several other states are testing Connecticut's technology for future use.
