health insurance

Window Shopping For Health Insurance Begins

NBC Universal, Inc.

Monday marks the first day Connecticut residents can start window shopping for a 2021 health insurance plan through Connecticut’s insurance exchange -- Access Health CT.  This is the eighth year of Access Health CT's open enrollment.

“Before it was all about price and getting the cheapest one possible. There are still people that have to do that they don’t really have a choice but we’re seeing more people upgrading,” broker Jennifer Lovett said. 

Lovett is an insurance broker from South Windsor who has been helping consumers purchase both individual and small group plans for years. 

Some clients have raised concerns the Affordable Care Act, which allows these plans to be sold and subsidized, will be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I tell my clients, until it happens, don’t worry about it. We’re going as things are,” Lovett said. 

Consumers are concerned not only about how much they are paying every month, but also what their insurance covers. 

“If customers go to learn.AccesshealthCT.com, that page includes all the information from enrollment check lists to what to expect,” AndreaRavitz of Access Health CT said. 

Ravitz said it is important consumers look at their options and not just the monthly premium. 

“When they don’t take into account their prescription drugs and how often they are going to a doctor, it might actually end up costing them more if they pick the wrong plan,” Ravitz said. 

Ravitz said anyone who needs help choosing a plan can use their compare tool on the Access Health CT website or they can use a certified broker. 

“See all this. This is all the mail you get of the things that confuse you,” MaryAnn Turner said.  

Turner of Enfield said she uses a broker to purchase insurance through the exchange. 

“You can’t be sure what you’re buying, Christine. You just don’t have a clue,” Turner said.  

Turner saidshe learned the hard way that not everything is covered when her husband broke his leg in New Hampshire. 

The good news is that rates only increased slightly this year and decreased in one instance. 

Earlier this year, the insurance department knocked down rate increases proposed by Anthem and Connecticare, the two private carriers offering plans through the exchange. 

There are nearly 100,000 people enrolled through Access Health CT.

“There are so many individuals that are needing our services. You know they lost their health insurance due to job loss so that opens a big community of individuals that might need our services, so it’s hard to predict what that number is going to be,” Ravitz said.

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