August 21, 2014

Number of Uninsured in Connecticut Drops

The national Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index shows Connecticut is among the 10 states with the largest reductions in the uninsured rate among adult residents since the federal Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) requirement to have health insurance took effect. The 10 states with the largest reduction in the percentage of uninsured are Arkansas, Kentucky, Delaware, Washington, Colorado, West Virginia, Oregon, California, New Mexico, and Connecticut. According to the Gallup findings, Connecticut’s rate of uninsured residents has dropped by 4.9% from 2013 to midyear 2014. Gallup reports that each of the 10 states both expanded Medicaid and established either a state-based marketplace or state-federal partnership marketplace under the ACA.

Access Health CT, Connecticut’s state health insurance marketplace, similarly announced a significant drop in the number of uninsured residents since the roll out of the ACA, according to the CT Mirror. Kevin Counihan, CEO of Access Health CT, said the state marketplace has enrolled 256,666 residents, of which 138,834 (54%) were previously uninsured.