January 2, 2025 • 11 mins
We spoke with Access Health CT Director, Marketing Caroline Ruwet about Access Health and their deadlines to get benefits is approaching.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community access. My
guest today is Caroline Ruett, director of Access Health CT.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good morning, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
So right out of the gate, let's talk about it.
We have a very important deadline coming up.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Okay, so we're here to talk about the deadlines. Really
important information about how to enroll and make sure that
you have coverage for this year. If you enroll now
through January fifteenth, your coverage will start on February first,
So it's your last chance to get in, shop, compare,
and enroll plans and make sure that you have coverage
for you and your family for twenty twenty five. Enroll
(00:37):
now through January fifteenth for coverage starting February first.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
For people who don't know about Access health CT, what
is it about?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Macess Health CT is Connecticut's official health insurance marketplace. So
if you do not have health insurance through an employer
or another means, you can come to accesshealthct dot com
to shop and enroll in health and mental coverage.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
What is their mission?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
So our mission is to reduce the rate of the
uninsured and to eliminate health disparities. Really, what that means
is our goal is to make sure every Connecticut resident
has access to affordable health and dental insurance and to
make sure that they can use that coverage so that
they have the best possible health outcomes.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Is there a great need at the moment?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah, So, you know, I think over the pandemics, everybody
kind of had a little bit of a realization that
health is really really important, especially if you didn't have
that realization before. So we're actually coming off of our
greatest enrollment year ever. So this past year, we had
more than one hundred and thirty thousand Connecticut residents enrolled
in health coverage through Access Health CP. In addition to that,
(01:44):
you know, those are plans that are offered through health
insurance carriers. As folks qualify in the enrollment process, we
can also help enroll them into Medicare, which is Husky
Health here in the state of Connecticut. So there's a
lot of opportunity to get enrolled in a lot of
Connecticut residents that need this insurance, and so we're happy
to provide the opportunity to enroll in insurance as well
(02:06):
as help people who are eligible for Husky Health enroll
as well. The one caveat that I would mention is
that if you enroll in a health insurance plan, you
do have to enroll during the open enrollment period, which
is happening right now. And if you enroll in Husky Health,
because you're eligible, you can actually enroll at any time
of the year. So really important to come in now
(02:28):
during the open enrollment period and see what you're eligible for.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
When you say come in now, where would they go?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So you can come to access healthct dot com and
click on create accounts and find a plan, and that's
how you can actually shop, compare and enroll completely online.
That said, we understand that enrolling in health insurance can
be a complex topic and there may be questions that
folks have and they want some an assistance, and so
(02:54):
we have lots of ways to get free help. If
you go to access Health cdtech and you click on
get help, there's a full list of ways to get
that help. So you can call our call center and
that's one eight five five eight zero five four three
two five, and we have call center representatives that can
speak in more than one hundred languages, which is really great.
(03:18):
On that website, you can also find a lot of
events that we hold. We do enrollment fares throughout the
state of Connecticut during open enrollment, and we also have
enrollment locations, and so those fares are one day pop
up events that usually happen at night or on the weekends,
really helping people who have limited availability during the work week.
And then our enrollment locations are places that you can
(03:38):
go Monday through Friday during normal business hours. So we
try our best to make ourselves available throughout the state
and at a variety of different times a day to
make it as convenient as possible.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
What makes someone eligible for this sure.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
So your eligibility, especially financial help, comes down to three
different factors, and that's where you live, how much money
you make or your income, and how many people live
in your household. And when you apply that information into
the application form, it will help you understand what you're
eligible for. And that could be different programs like I mentioned,
(04:11):
it could be for a health insurance program and that
would be eligible for people who have a certain amount
of income, certain amount of people in their house and
live in a certain place. Or there's no cost options
for folks who are eligible like Husky Health, the state's
Medicaid program, and also covered Connecticut program that's a program
(04:34):
where you enroll in a health insurance program, but the
state actually picks up the consumer's portion of the premium
or their monthly payment, as well as any copays or
cost when folks get care. And again, all of what
you're eligible for is really based on those three things.
Where you live, how much money you make, and how
many people are in your household.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
When people receive care like this, I imagine they must have
a sigh of relief that they are getting healthcare.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, it's really an important thing that causes a lot
of stress for people. But we've now been offering this
opportunity for over a decade, which is really great. This
is our twelfth open enrollment period, and so it provides
an opportunity for people who don't have traditional access to healthcare,
whether that's because they work a couple of part time
jobs so they're not eligible for benefits, or variety of
(05:22):
other different reasons. And so we're really pleased to be
able to offer this opportunity for folks who don't have
that opportunity through traditional methods.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Let's talk some more about dental insurance and financial health
to customers. I can't believe people are going to get
dental insurance. That's phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Dental insurance is one of those things that a lot
of employers aren't able to offer, especially small business employers.
So even if you have coverage through an employer, if
you don't have dental, you can come on to access
HEALTHCP dot com and look at dental plans, and we
have six different plans to choose from. A lot of
times there's only a couple to choose from if you
(06:00):
work with an employer, So that's another option, right, We
have a lot of different options for you to choose from.
And another thing about our dental coverage that's interesting is
Medicare eligible Connecticut residents can also come on to access
healthct dot com to purchase dental Wow. Yeah, so if
they're eligible for Medicare, you can't purchase a health insurance
(06:22):
plan because you're eligible for Medicare. But you can enhance
that Medicare benefit for dental by purchasing an add on
or what we call a standalone dental plan. And that's
not something that everybody knows about. So if you're sixty
five or older and you have dental needs and you
feel like Medicare is just not meeting. What you need,
Come on to access healthct dot com and shop the
(06:43):
dental plans.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Will people really need to know about this? What other
financial health is available to customers.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
So again, financial health and whether or not you qualify
for that is based on three things. Where you live,
your income, and how many people are in your household,
and when you fill out our application form, it will
determine for you what financial help you're eligible for. And
that comes in two different ways potentially. The first could
be called an advanced Premium tax credit or an APTC
(07:11):
as it's known in the industry, and what that does
is it helps offset that monthly payment also known as
a premium that you have for your insurance. So that's
the money that you pay every single month to the
health insurance company so that you have that health coverage.
That APTC or that tax credit helps reduce that monthly
payment for you. And on top of that, there's something
called a cost sharing reduction, and what those do is
(07:35):
they help reduce the cost when you actually get care.
So think about that co payment when you go to
a doctor's office or when you fill up a prescription
and you have to pay to get that. A cost
sharing reduction can help offset those costs as well. And
what's really great is that application helps determine what you're
eligible for, either a tax credit or that cost sharing reduction,
(07:56):
and you may also be eligible for the Covered Connecticut
program and that program is available to people that are
just over the income threshold to qualify for Husky Health
through the state's Medicaid program. And what happens is the
state actually pays the consumer's portion of that monthly payment
as well as that cost sharing when they go and
get care. So it's a really great opportunity. Come fill
(08:18):
out the application. You may find that you get financial
help to either offset part of the cost or all
of your costs. So it's a really great opportunity to
get covered and help protect what matters most.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
And there's something for everyone.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
There is something for everyone, so long as you're not
eligible for Medicare.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Again, it's access HEALTHCT dot com. You can go online,
in person by phone. You also have enrollment faars navigator
locations and enrollment locations.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Right so we do fares all across the state. You
can go to access HEALTHCT dot com and click get
help to view all of our in person assistance offerings.
That includes those fares that have on nights and weekends,
and then we also have our navigators and enrollment locations
that are available Monday through Friday during normal business hours.
I'd also like to note on that get help page
(09:11):
there's also an opportunity to find a broker, and brokers
are free to work with and they can help answer
questions about what plans are best for you. So if
you have trouble, you know, enrolling in health insurance and
you're not sure what plan would be right for you
and your family, you can work with a broker and
they can ask you questions like how often you regularly
go to the doctor, if you have any chronic conditions
(09:33):
like asthma, diabetes, or hypertension that you might you know,
need to use some maintenance prescription drugs to manage, as
all as the host of other things, and they can
really narrow down the plan options to help you get
the most care and coverage for your money. And brokers,
like I said, they're free to work with, but the
insurance companies pay them and they only get paid if
(09:55):
you stay enrolled in your plan, so they're really invested
in making sure that they find a plan that works
best for you, and they're educated by the state. They
have to pass some licensing exams, so they really have
to prove that they know the insurance industry inside and
out in order to maintain that license and offer the
service to customers. So free to work with in a
(10:17):
really great way to navigate a complex system. If you
have trouble choosing a plan that's best for you and
your family, and you can find a broker on our website.
If you go to access HEALTHCT dot com click get
help and find a broker. You can search our network
of brokers, buy zip code, town, as well as preferred language.
So if you have trouble signing up yourself and you
(10:38):
really want to find someone who speaks your language, you
can go ahead and find that at access HEALTHCT dot
com get help and then find a broker.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Excellent. My last question for you is it DACA recipients.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Yeah, so Deferred Action for childhood Arrival recipients also known
as dacas, who have come into the country with a
parent and have received a federal government documentation to be
here and that is now considered lawfully present and so
they can now enroll in health insurance through Access Health CT.
(11:15):
This is a brand new law that was passed by
the federal government in May, and it makes TAKA recipients
eligible for health insurance on accesshealthct dot com if they
live here in Connecticut. So this is a new opportunity
specifically for those folks, and it's a really great opportunity
to help reduce the rate of the uninsured here in Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
I'm speaking with Caroline Ruett, director of Access HEALTHCT. It's
open enrollment. Go to ACCESSHEALTHCT dot com. Again. That website
is access HEALTHCT dot com. Everything is right there at
your fingertips. Caroline, thank you so much for being here
today and for caring about people.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Thank you, Alison really appreciate the opportunity to connect with
your audience.
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community access. My
guest today is Caroline Ruett, director of Access Health CT.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good morning, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
So right out of the gate, let's talk about it.
We have a very important deadline coming up.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Okay, so we're here to talk about the deadlines. Really
important information about how to enroll and make sure that
you have coverage for this year. If you enroll now
through January fifteenth, your coverage will start on February first,
So it's your last chance to get in, shop, compare,
and enroll plans and make sure that you have coverage
for you and your family for twenty twenty five. Enroll
(00:37):
now through January fifteenth for coverage starting February first.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
For people who don't know about Access health CT, what
is it about?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Macess Health CT is Connecticut's official health insurance marketplace. So
if you do not have health insurance through an employer
or another means, you can come to accesshealthct dot com
to shop and enroll in health and mental coverage.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
What is their mission?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
So our mission is to reduce the rate of the
uninsured and to eliminate health disparities. Really, what that means
is our goal is to make sure every Connecticut resident
has access to affordable health and dental insurance and to
make sure that they can use that coverage so that
they have the best possible health outcomes.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Is there a great need at the moment?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah, So, you know, I think over the pandemics, everybody
kind of had a little bit of a realization that
health is really really important, especially if you didn't have
that realization before. So we're actually coming off of our
greatest enrollment year ever. So this past year, we had
more than one hundred and thirty thousand Connecticut residents enrolled
in health coverage through Access Health CP. In addition to that,
(01:44):
you know, those are plans that are offered through health
insurance carriers. As folks qualify in the enrollment process, we
can also help enroll them into Medicare, which is Husky
Health here in the state of Connecticut. So there's a
lot of opportunity to get enrolled in a lot of
Connecticut residents that need this insurance, and so we're happy
to provide the opportunity to enroll in insurance as well
(02:06):
as help people who are eligible for Husky Health enroll
as well. The one caveat that I would mention is
that if you enroll in a health insurance plan, you
do have to enroll during the open enrollment period, which
is happening right now. And if you enroll in Husky Health,
because you're eligible, you can actually enroll at any time
of the year. So really important to come in now
(02:28):
during the open enrollment period and see what you're eligible for.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
When you say come in now, where would they go?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So you can come to access healthct dot com and
click on create accounts and find a plan, and that's
how you can actually shop, compare and enroll completely online.
That said, we understand that enrolling in health insurance can
be a complex topic and there may be questions that
folks have and they want some an assistance, and so
(02:54):
we have lots of ways to get free help. If
you go to access Health cdtech and you click on
get help, there's a full list of ways to get
that help. So you can call our call center and
that's one eight five five eight zero five four three
two five, and we have call center representatives that can
speak in more than one hundred languages, which is really great.
(03:18):
On that website, you can also find a lot of
events that we hold. We do enrollment fares throughout the
state of Connecticut during open enrollment, and we also have
enrollment locations, and so those fares are one day pop
up events that usually happen at night or on the weekends,
really helping people who have limited availability during the work week.
And then our enrollment locations are places that you can
(03:38):
go Monday through Friday during normal business hours. So we
try our best to make ourselves available throughout the state
and at a variety of different times a day to
make it as convenient as possible.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
What makes someone eligible for this sure.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
So your eligibility, especially financial help, comes down to three
different factors, and that's where you live, how much money
you make or your income, and how many people live
in your household. And when you apply that information into
the application form, it will help you understand what you're
eligible for. And that could be different programs like I mentioned,
(04:11):
it could be for a health insurance program and that
would be eligible for people who have a certain amount
of income, certain amount of people in their house and
live in a certain place. Or there's no cost options
for folks who are eligible like Husky Health, the state's
Medicaid program, and also covered Connecticut program that's a program
(04:34):
where you enroll in a health insurance program, but the
state actually picks up the consumer's portion of the premium
or their monthly payment, as well as any copays or
cost when folks get care. And again, all of what
you're eligible for is really based on those three things.
Where you live, how much money you make, and how
many people are in your household.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
When people receive care like this, I imagine they must have
a sigh of relief that they are getting healthcare.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, it's really an important thing that causes a lot
of stress for people. But we've now been offering this
opportunity for over a decade, which is really great. This
is our twelfth open enrollment period, and so it provides
an opportunity for people who don't have traditional access to healthcare,
whether that's because they work a couple of part time
jobs so they're not eligible for benefits, or variety of
(05:22):
other different reasons. And so we're really pleased to be
able to offer this opportunity for folks who don't have
that opportunity through traditional methods.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Let's talk some more about dental insurance and financial health
to customers. I can't believe people are going to get
dental insurance. That's phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Dental insurance is one of those things that a lot
of employers aren't able to offer, especially small business employers.
So even if you have coverage through an employer, if
you don't have dental, you can come on to access
HEALTHCP dot com and look at dental plans, and we
have six different plans to choose from. A lot of
times there's only a couple to choose from if you
(06:00):
work with an employer, So that's another option, right, We
have a lot of different options for you to choose from.
And another thing about our dental coverage that's interesting is
Medicare eligible Connecticut residents can also come on to access
healthct dot com to purchase dental Wow. Yeah, so if
they're eligible for Medicare, you can't purchase a health insurance
(06:22):
plan because you're eligible for Medicare. But you can enhance
that Medicare benefit for dental by purchasing an add on
or what we call a standalone dental plan. And that's
not something that everybody knows about. So if you're sixty
five or older and you have dental needs and you
feel like Medicare is just not meeting. What you need,
Come on to access healthct dot com and shop the
(06:43):
dental plans.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Will people really need to know about this? What other
financial health is available to customers.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
So again, financial health and whether or not you qualify
for that is based on three things. Where you live,
your income, and how many people are in your household,
and when you fill out our application form, it will
determine for you what financial help you're eligible for. And
that comes in two different ways potentially. The first could
be called an advanced Premium tax credit or an APTC
(07:11):
as it's known in the industry, and what that does
is it helps offset that monthly payment also known as
a premium that you have for your insurance. So that's
the money that you pay every single month to the
health insurance company so that you have that health coverage.
That APTC or that tax credit helps reduce that monthly
payment for you. And on top of that, there's something
called a cost sharing reduction, and what those do is
(07:35):
they help reduce the cost when you actually get care.
So think about that co payment when you go to
a doctor's office or when you fill up a prescription
and you have to pay to get that. A cost
sharing reduction can help offset those costs as well. And
what's really great is that application helps determine what you're
eligible for, either a tax credit or that cost sharing reduction,
(07:56):
and you may also be eligible for the Covered Connecticut
program and that program is available to people that are
just over the income threshold to qualify for Husky Health
through the state's Medicaid program. And what happens is the
state actually pays the consumer's portion of that monthly payment
as well as that cost sharing when they go and
get care. So it's a really great opportunity. Come fill
(08:18):
out the application. You may find that you get financial
help to either offset part of the cost or all
of your costs. So it's a really great opportunity to
get covered and help protect what matters most.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
And there's something for everyone.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
There is something for everyone, so long as you're not
eligible for Medicare.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Again, it's access HEALTHCT dot com. You can go online,
in person by phone. You also have enrollment faars navigator
locations and enrollment locations.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Right so we do fares all across the state. You
can go to access HEALTHCT dot com and click get
help to view all of our in person assistance offerings.
That includes those fares that have on nights and weekends,
and then we also have our navigators and enrollment locations
that are available Monday through Friday during normal business hours.
I'd also like to note on that get help page
(09:11):
there's also an opportunity to find a broker, and brokers
are free to work with and they can help answer
questions about what plans are best for you. So if
you have trouble, you know, enrolling in health insurance and
you're not sure what plan would be right for you
and your family, you can work with a broker and
they can ask you questions like how often you regularly
go to the doctor, if you have any chronic conditions
(09:33):
like asthma, diabetes, or hypertension that you might you know,
need to use some maintenance prescription drugs to manage, as
all as the host of other things, and they can
really narrow down the plan options to help you get
the most care and coverage for your money. And brokers,
like I said, they're free to work with, but the
insurance companies pay them and they only get paid if
(09:55):
you stay enrolled in your plan, so they're really invested
in making sure that they find a plan that works
best for you, and they're educated by the state. They
have to pass some licensing exams, so they really have
to prove that they know the insurance industry inside and
out in order to maintain that license and offer the
service to customers. So free to work with in a
(10:17):
really great way to navigate a complex system. If you
have trouble choosing a plan that's best for you and
your family, and you can find a broker on our website.
If you go to access HEALTHCT dot com click get
help and find a broker. You can search our network
of brokers, buy zip code, town, as well as preferred language.
So if you have trouble signing up yourself and you
(10:38):
really want to find someone who speaks your language, you
can go ahead and find that at access HEALTHCT dot
com get help and then find a broker.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Excellent. My last question for you is it DACA recipients.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Yeah, so Deferred Action for childhood Arrival recipients also known
as dacas, who have come into the country with a
parent and have received a federal government documentation to be
here and that is now considered lawfully present and so
they can now enroll in health insurance through Access Health CT.
(11:15):
This is a brand new law that was passed by
the federal government in May, and it makes TAKA recipients
eligible for health insurance on accesshealthct dot com if they
live here in Connecticut. So this is a new opportunity
specifically for those folks, and it's a really great opportunity
to help reduce the rate of the uninsured here in Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
I'm speaking with Caroline Ruett, director of Access HEALTHCT. It's
open enrollment. Go to ACCESSHEALTHCT dot com. Again. That website
is access HEALTHCT dot com. Everything is right there at
your fingertips. Caroline, thank you so much for being here
today and for caring about people.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Thank you, Alison really appreciate the opportunity to connect with
your audience.
Popular Podcasts
Boysober
Have you ever wondered what life might be like if you stopped worrying about being wanted, and focused on understanding what you actually want? That was the question Hope Woodard asked herself after a string of situationships inspired her to take a break from sex and dating. She went "boysober," a personal concept that sparked a global movement among women looking to prioritize themselves over men. Now, Hope is looking to expand the ways we explore our relationship to relationships. Taking a bold, unfiltered look into modern love, romance, and self-discovery, Boysober will dive into messy stories about dating, sex, love, friendship, and breaking generational patterns—all with humor, vulnerability, and a fresh perspective.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com