Connecticut Health Insurance

Since Connecticut is a state with relatively loose regulations on its health insurance industry, it’s important that residents be informed of their rights and obligations under state law.  Below are a few of the most important things to know while shopping for health insurance here.

• All health insurance companies in Connecticut are required to offer guaranteed renewability for all of their health policies.  This means that, as long as you keep up with the premiums, insurers here cannot cancel your health plan— or prevent it from being renewed— without your consent.  This also means that an existing policy cannot be cancelled on the basis of present health complications.
• Connecticut does not impose significant restrictions on health insurance costs, so a given health insurance policy can vary widely in price from one instance to another based on factors like health, age, and marital status of the insured.  Additionally, health insurance companies in Connecticut are permitted to refuse any application for coverage if the applicant is already ill, or if they consider him or her to be an unacceptable risk.
• Health insurers in Connecticut are permitted to specifically exclude pre-existing conditions from being covered when setting up a new policy.  This could mean a waiting period of months or years before coverage for that condition is available, or even a permanent exclusion.  Fortunately, as long as you maintain continuous health coverage, any waiting period that has already elapsed when you switch from one policy to another must be taken into account when determining exclusion periods for your new policy.  In Connecticut, a “pre-existing condition” is defined as a health issue for which you have been diagnosed or treated within the twelve months before coverage begins.
• Small businesses in Connecticut have the advantage of guaranteed access to any group health insurance policy that is currently being offered to any other small business in this state.  “Small businesses” in this context are any businesses having between 2 and 50 employees.
• Small-business health plans may come with certain requirements that must be met for the policy to remain in effect, such as a minimum level of employee participation or a minimum per-employee contribution from the company itself.  Failure to meet these requirements could mean outright cancellation of the business’s group policy.
• As with individual health plans, Connecticut insurers are permitted to set rates for small business health insurance with very few restrictions, and they cannot legally cancel an existing policy solely due to illness among those covered.
• Self-employed individuals in Connecticut also have access to small-business group insurance plans, even if there are no other employees in the company, instead of an individual health insurance policy.  Those who do choose to go with an individual policy have the advantage of being able to deduct a sizable portion of the premiums from their overall tax liability.

The cost of health insurance in Connecticut tends to increase considerably as one gets older, so you would be well-advised to find a policy that’s right for you as early as possible.  Before you choose one plan over another, however, be sure to compare the rates against several competitors’ and read over all policy details carefully.

From Our Customers