Connecticut: 37,000 covered during #COVID19 SEP; reminds residents of upcoming deadline for coverage loss SEP

via Access Health CT:

Time Is Running Out – Deadlines Approaching For Residents That Lost Health Insurance Due To Job Loss To Qualify For Coverage Through Access Health CT

• More than 37,000 Connecticut residents enrolled during COVID-19 Crisis
• People who lose health insurance due to job loss, generally have 60 days before or after their coverage ends to apply for coverage through Access Health CT.
• Losing health insurance coverage either from a furlough or a layoff is considered a ‘Qualifying Life Event,’ triggering a Special Enrollment Period.
• Access Health CT recommends comparing options with COBRA coverage. Access Health CT may offer a better, less expensive choice, and is the only place where people can qualify for financial help to lower their costs.

HARTFORD, Conn. (June 1, 2020) — Workers who lose health insurance as a result of job loss may not know they have options, but Access Health CT (AHCT) is helping people find the best coverage for themselves and their families. Losing insurance either from a furlough or a layoff is considered a ‘Qualifying Life Event,’ triggering a Special Enrollment Period for that individual and possibly their household. However, those who lost their insurance over the last two months may need to act quickly.

“We have increased our efforts in the community to help residents know they may qualify for a Special Enrollment if they lose their coverage because of job loss,” said Access Health CT Chief Executive Officer, James Michel. “People can enroll any time within 60 days of losing their job. But for those who lost their health insurance in early April, the deadline to enroll is approaching fast.”

To help residents maintain quality and affordable healthcare coverage, Access Health CT recommends comparing options on AccessHealthCT.com to COBRA coverage, as the marketplace may offer a better, less expensive choice, and is the only place where people can qualify for financial help to lower their costs.

Access Health CT is working closely with the Department of Labor and other entities to reach out to businesses that are in the process of reducing their work force. Access Health CT has an educational website that offers information and videos that describe in detail how to shop and enroll.

Michel continues, “Access Health CT is helping people find the right health insurance coverage at a stressful time when they lose their jobs. Many people have never shopped for health insurance before and we don’t want them to miss out on the opportunity to select a better plan because they didn’t know about these options.”

In addition, Access Health CT has been offering educational webinars with important information about the marketplace, its health insurance plans and financial help. Please contact us at  outreach@accesshealthct.com if you are interested in setting up a webinar.

The press release is mainly focused on letting people who lost their employer-sponsored coverage but missed the COVID19 SEP know how to #GetCovered and about the 60-day deadline for doing so, but they also threw in a cryptic "37,000 enrolled during the COVID-19 Crisis" bullet at the top.

I say cryptic because it's pretty vague--it doesn't clarify whether those people enrolled specifically in ACA exchange policies or if it's a mix of exchange + Medicaid enrollment...which is almost certainly the case, since the previous update out of Connecticut they stated that fewer than 2,000 people had enrolled in exchange plans via the COVID SEP as of mid-April. I find it very difficult to believe that this number increased by 19x in the following month or so.

Unless and until they break out the numbers, it's pretty useless for determining how many people might enroll via a HealthCare.Gov COVID SEP, so I'm not bothering including this update in my spreadsheet.