Insurance officials to discuss impact on industry
HARTFORD - State Sen. Joseph J. Crisco, Jr.
, D-Woodbridge, Senate chair of the legislature’s Insurance and Real
Estate Committee, will convene an Informational Hearing next week on the
federal Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act and its impact on the state’s
insurance industry.
Crisco and committee members will hear presentations by officials of the state Department of Insurance.
Crisco said the state must continue its work to be fully prepared to
implement the Affordable Care Act now that its provisions were upheld by
the United States Supreme Court earlier this year.
“Connecticut
is already very well positioned for ACA compliance given the creation
of a state Affordable Insurance Exchange, something of an insurance
clearinghouse, to help uninsured
residents access, review, compare, and purchase insurance beginning in 2014,” Crisco said.
“Connecticut has also already received $7.6 million in grants to help
underwrite research, planning, information technology development, and
implementation of this insurance exchange,
which has also been referred to as a ‘virtual insurance mega-mall’.”
In the meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services reports that senior citizens in Connecticut have saved
almost $58 million this year on prescription medications because ACA
provisions filled the so-called ‘doughnut hole’ in
Medicare prescription drug coverage.
Other benefits of the ACA include elimination of
pre-existing conditions as cause for denial of coverage, and extended
coverage for offspring to remain on a family plan until the age of 26,
each of which will impact insurers in the state.
Crisco
and committee members will hold an Informational Hearing at 1 p.m. Oct. 9 in Room 2D of the Legislative Office Building. Members of
the public are invited to attend.
