December 9, 2024 • 29 mins
In this episode we take a look at shopping for your healthcare in Connecticut. This is the time of year that Connecticut residents are looking to enroll or change their health insurance and or dental insurance. Access Health CT enrollment fairs are currently going on across Connecticut through December and into January.
Access Health CT is the state’s official health insurance marketplace and Access Health CT has helped over 1 million individuals and small businesses get health insurance since it started in 2013.Their efforts have played a crucial role in reducing Connecticut’s uninsured rate dropping from 9.2% to 5.2%.
Caroline Ruwet, is the Director of Marketing at Access Health CT. We discussed their enrollment fairs that are going on across Connecticut and how they devised their marketing strategy to cover the entire state. We talked about healthcare disparity, and what they are trying to do to reduce healthcare bias. We talked about their small businesses and how they help them navigate healthcare.
For information about Access Health CT please go to: Accesshealthct.com
For information or to apply for benefits please go to: ctpaidleave.org
https://ctpaidleave.org/s/?language=en_US
https://www.facebook.com/CTPaidLeave
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nancy Barrow (00:01):
Hello Connecticut, and welcome to The Paid Leave
Podcast. The title basicallysays it all. I'm Nancy Barrow,
and I will be delving into thisnew state program and how it can
help you and your family. Thispodcast will give you
information you should knowabout Connecticut Paid Leave and
maybe just a little bit more.
Connecticut Paid Leave bringspeace of mind to your home,
(00:22):
family and workplace. Welcome toThe Paid Leave Podcast.
This is the time of year thatpeople are looking to enroll or
to actually change their healthinsurance or dental insurance.
And Access Health enrollmentfairs are currently going on
across Connecticut. AccessHealth is the state's official
health insurance marketplace,and they have helped over 1
(00:46):
million individuals and smallbusinesses get health insurance
since their start in 2013 theirefforts have played a crucial
role in reducing Connecticut'suninsured rate from 9.2% to
5.2%. Access Health andConnecticut Paid Leave have
partnered to help each other'smessages get out to workers in
Connecticut. Caroline Ruwet isthe Director of Marketing at
(01:09):
Access Health and Caroline,welcome to The Paid Leave
Podcast.
Caroline Ruwet (01:13):
Thank you for having me. Really appreciate it!
Nancy Barrow (01:15):
For Connecticut residents who aren't familiar
with what you do, can youexplain what Access Health does.
Caroline Ruwet (01:22):
Yeah, so like you mentioned, Access Health CT
is the state's official healthinsurance marketplace, and we're
the place where you can come toshop, compare and enroll in
health or dental insurance. Andthat's particularly important
for people who might not havehealth or dental coverage made
available to them through anemployer, right? That's
typically how Americans andConnecticut residents get their
(01:43):
health insurance. So if youdon't have that, sometimes it
can feel like there's not a lotof options, but there are, and
here in Connecticut, AccessHealth CT is where you can come.
So we have over or we have 22plans actually, to choose from
during the open enrollmentperiod this year, so for
coverage starting in January andgoing through December, and
(02:04):
there's six different, what wecall standalone dental plans.
And this is important, becausesome people might even have
health insurance availablethrough them, through an
employer, but maybe it's a smallbusiness and they just don't
have the resources to offersomething like a dental plan. If
that's the case for you, you cancome to access healthct.com and
enroll in just a dental plan.
Wow. And so, yeah, it's a reallygood option for a lot of people,
(02:24):
or maybe you work two part timejobs, right? So you don't get
health insurance through anemployer. This is a great option
for you to come in. And then Iwould also tell people, there's
a couple of different types ofinsurance or coverage options
available to you, but you justhave to fill out one
application. Oh, you go out oneapplication, and then it'll let
you know what you're eligiblefor, and that might be a health
(02:45):
a traditional health insuranceplan from a carrier like anthem
or Connecticut, or it might evenbe Medicaid. So if you qualify
for Husky Health here inConnecticut, we can help you get
enrolled in that too. So youdon't have to go knock on a lot
of different doors to figureout, you know, what kind of
coverage you might be eligiblefor. One stop shopping here and
we can figure out what the bestplan is for you.
Nancy Barrow (03:08):
And what did people do before 2013 before you
guys started? What did peopledo?
Caroline Ruwet (03:14):
Yeah. So there are very limited options.
Probably the most popular onewould be to go to work directly
with an insurance carrier, goingto somebody like an anthem or a
Connecticut that does businessin your state, and looking for a
health plan to pay for directlythrough that. Here's the big
difference, though, AccessHealth CT is the only place
(03:35):
where you can get financialassistance to help you pay
towards the cost of yourinsurance or coverage before
2013 that wasn't available, andso you would be paying the
entire cost of that premium,that monthly payment, right? And
so now, with financial helpavailable, these are federal
subsidies and potentially somestate subsidies if you qualify
(03:56):
for some programs like thecovered Connecticut program,
that really lessen the cost foryou. And so it's a much better
option. And if you know, youwere somebody that's been in
this boat since, you know,before 2013 and you haven't come
in to figure out what youroptions were, because you
thought you would be paying, youknow, just as much as you were
before, chances are you're goingto get a significant decrease in
cost. In fact, nearly 90% of ourcustomers get some sort of
(04:21):
financial assistance to helpoffset the cost of that monthly
payment. So there is financialassistance, and most people do
qualify.
Nancy Barrow (04:28):
And who exactly do you cover? Do you cover kids? Do
you cover, you know, everybodyin Connecticut, and do they have
to be a Connecticut resident?
Caroline Ruwet (04:36):
Yes. So for Access Healt CT, you do need to
be a Connecticut resident. Butother states have state based
exchanges, or if they don't havea state based exchange, they
follow the federal model. Soevery state has a version of us,
but in order to get coveragethrough Access Health CT, you do
need to be a resident, and we docover about a variety of people
for our health insurance plan.
So if you don't qualify forMedicaid, we're. We're really
(04:58):
looking at folks between 18 and65 okay, because once you turn
65 you're eligible for Medicare,right? Okay? And if you're below
18, chances are you're going toqualify for the Children's
Health Insurance Program, whichis the part of Medicaid, also
known as chip so we also enrollpeople in those Medicaid
programs, part of Husky healthas well as the Children's Health
(05:20):
Insurance Program. So if you areup to age 65 we can help you.
There is one exception, becausehealthcare is complicated,
right? Always an exception, butthis is an important and nuanced
one that you might be interestedin. We can offer a dental plan,
those stand alone dental plans,to anybody. Chances are, your
children's health insurance, andeven some of the insurance
(05:42):
products you can purchasethrough us do have some dental
available to you, but if youwant to increase that, you can
buy a standalone dental plan,and they're also available for
Medicare eligible folks. So ifyou're 65 or older, you're on
just the basic Medicare maybeyou can't afford to buy up to
Medicare Advantage or somethinglike that that has much stronger
dental coverage for you, you canpurchase a dental plan through
(06:06):
Access Health DC. So again, ifyou're 65 or older and you're
looking for better dentalcoverage, come in and check out
your options. You can enrollthrough us, and it's a really
good opportunity.
Nancy Barrow (06:16):
Well, let's talk about sole proprietors, who are
not insured by a company, andthey're obviously looking to
have their coverage. How do theynavigate finding the best
insurance that's affordable tothem?
Caroline Ruwet (06:27):
Yeah, it's a complicated process. There's
really no way around that. Andif you're you know, a sole
proprietor, chances are a lot ofyour time and resources is being
spent on developing yourbusiness. And so we can imagine
it's a frustrating process ingeneral, but then just layering
that on the lack of time can bereally frustrating. My best
advice is to work with acertified broker. So certified
(06:49):
brokers are actually licensed bythe state of Connecticut. They
have to do a lot of courseworkto truly understand the ins and
outs of the health insuranceindustry and specifically how it
operates in the state ofConnecticut, they have to pass
them tests in order to get theirlicense, so they truly know what
they're doing, and they're notjust somebody who's looking at
this from the outside. They'refree to work with so there's
(07:11):
nothing that you have to putinto it, and the reason for that
is because they get a commissionfrom the insurance company when
you enroll, and so the insurancecompany is actually baked that
into their monthly premiums. Theactuaries and all those people
who figure out how muchinsurance is going to cost, they
figure that out ahead of time,and that broker only gets paid
per month that you're enrolled.
So they really want to make surethat they're asked they're
(07:34):
asking you the right questionsto get you in the right plan,
because if you leave that plan,maybe, or something like that,
then their commission goes away.
So there's a lot invested ontheir side to make sure that
they find a plan that's rightfor you. Yeah, their motivation,
yeah. And they're also the onlytype of person that can help you
(07:54):
and suggest a plan you can workwith a certified application
counselor. Those are people thatreally understand our
application and things likethat, but they can't actually
suggest a plan for you, becausethey don't have that education.
They don't have background thatbrokers do, which is why there's
such an advantage to that. Andyou can find one on our website.
If you go to our website andhit, get help. There's a whole
(08:14):
field that you can pull outabout brokers so that you can
limit, you know, maybe the townthat they're in, the languages
that they speak. Maybe that's abarrier for some folks too. You
can find a broker that speaksSpanish, for example, or one
that's, you know, only withinfive miles of where you live, in
case you don't havetransportation, and you want to
make sure that you can getthere. So they're very, very
accessible, very knowledgeable,and really good resources for
(08:36):
those, you know, soloproprietors as it were.
Nancy Barrow (08:39):
And how many are there across Connecticut? Is
there a huge number of them?
Caroline Ruwet (08:43):
There are, there are 1000s of brokers. 650 of
them are actually certified byAccess Health CT, so that they
Nancy Barrow (08:49):
Access Health's mission, which I loved on your
really know not only otherinsurance plans to offer you,
website, is reducing theuninsured rate and eliminating
but the 22 different healthplans right on on our exchange
health disparities. Let's talkabout first, reducing the
this year, as well as the sixdental plans. So 650 of them.
There is not a shortage at all.
They are ready to work with you.
uninsured across Connecticut.
How do you do that? And why isthere such a problem with people
(09:16):
finding insurance?
Caroline Ruwet (09:19):
It's, you know, finding a health insurance plan
is, is really complicated. Ithink a lot of us that even are
employed and get the two orthree, you know, plan options
every single year to look atduring your open enrollment
period. Sometimes you're justlooking through, you know,
charts and graphs of, you know,all the different things that
would be covered and at whatexpense, and is there a co
(09:40):
insurance or CO payments?
There's a lot of jargon and alot of words that are specific
to the industry that are just sohard to navigate. And so
ultimately, you know, it's justreally important to be able to
provide that opportunity topeople to get insured. It's just
really, really confusing. Sothat's one of the reasons why we
were started. And then also forwhat we talked about earlier,
(10:00):
right? What do you do if youdon't have health insurance,
available job? And so that's thebig problem. Is that, you know,
sometimes people don't have fulltime employment. They might be
working two jobs. Maybe they'reonly working part time. Maybe
you got laid off, or maybe youhad to involuntarily take some
time off. Maybe you took FMLAfor a while to care for somebody
who was on hospice. And maybethe best estimate at the time
(10:22):
was they were going to be, youknow, only there for about four
weeks, but, you know, maybe thatperson had a really remarkable
recovery, and they're there forlonger, and you need to leave
right the workforce, even ifit's temporarily. What are you
going to do for healthinsurance? Because that's tied
to your job. The fact thathealth insurance is tied to
eight employment is really thething that it makes it hard to
(10:42):
keep people insured and keepthat uninsured rate at zero.
That's pretty much impossible,because there's always going to
be some flux right in theworkforce when insurance is tied
to people's jobs. So that's thebig challenge. But in
Connecticut, you mentioned, youknow, since our existence, we
brought the uninsured rate fromover 9% down to just over 5%
which is extraordinary. There'sa lot of other states in the
(11:04):
country where the uninsured rateis actually pushing about 17 to
20% in some cases, so we'redoing a really good job here in
Connecticut, and I'm reallyproud of that and the team that
we work with in order to getthings done. And I think a big
part of it is just making peopleaware of it and having
opportunities like this toconnect with with folks and let
them know where they can go tofind the coverage options. And
really, that's what it is. It'scomplicated and time consuming
(11:27):
at times, and so folks sometimesjust don't make it a priority.
But we're here to say, hey,we're making it easier for you.
We can partner you up with freein person help to get it done.
So let's do that.
Nancy Barrow (11:39):
And let's talk about the health equity in
Connecticut, and how do you helpwith this?
Caroline Ruwet (11:44):
Yeah, so what's really interesting is we
commissioned a study, actuallytwo one was on the uninsured
rate, and we really studiedthat, and then a year later, we
commissioned a study on healthdisparities. And so there's a
lot more data that we have towork with now than we did when
we originally launched. And whatwe're finding is that even
though Connecticut has a fairlylow uninsured rate, there's
(12:06):
actually quite a bit of healthdisparities going on here that
we need to address, and so thatvery often times is related to
the social determinants ofhealth, right? Which is a whole
thought process, and there'sseveral of them, and I'll give a
couple examples here. One istransportation. If you don't
have access to transportation,even if you have insurance or
(12:27):
coverage, it's really hard touse it, right, right? It's hard
to get to a doctor'sappointment. Another one is
language. If you can't findsomebody that helps speak your
language to even get insured,that's a barrier. And then even
if you cross that finding aprovider that speaks your
language, right? That's an issuetoo. So there's a whole host of
social determinants of health,and we really struggle with
(12:48):
those here in Connecticut, andso we have an entire department.
It actually used to be part ofmarketing, which is the
department I leave, I leave, butwe actually, a couple years ago,
broke out a whole newdepartment. It's health equity
and outreach, that's what wecall it, and it's a lot of in
person events, really what wecall hand to hand combat, right?
Getting in touch with people,having real conversations, and
(13:09):
then also working with localnonprofits. There's over 2000
community partners that we havethat help champion our message
to people. So rather than ushaving go directly to everybody
and foster those conversations.
There's only so many of us.
We're only about 100 peopleright total. We actually work
with our network of communitypartners and nonprofits where
folks already go, maybe for someother service. Maybe they need
(13:31):
energy assistance. Maybe theyjust move to town and they just
want to know what resources areavailable to them. And they're
not necessarily in a financiallypoor, just poor place, whatever
it is, they go to thesenonprofits, these community
resources, to find the thingsthat they need that are going to
make their lives better, andwhat they might come in for is
something like transportation.
And then we find out through acertain intake process at that
at that community partner, thatthey also don't have insurance,
(13:53):
and we can help them with thattoo, or they can help them with
that too. And so it really is awhole village type of strategy
that we have at Access Healthdt, and we could not do that
alone, and so it's a huge thanksto our community partners that
help us get that done.
Nancy Barrow (14:08):
Yeah, I have seen you at a bunch of events that we
do too, because our outreach ispretty much the same as yours,
right? So we do a lot of healthevents and health fairs, so we
do see you a lot, and we'rehappy that we've partnered with
you and we work together to getour messages out there. I also
read on your website thatthere's a disparity in life
expectancy across Connecticuttowns, and it was so interesting
(14:31):
to read that in Westport, whichis 91% white, the life
expectancy is 89.1 years, and ina neighborhood at Northeast
Hartford, where 94% of thepeople are black and Hispanic,
the life expectancy is just 68.9years, and that has to do with
healthcare, right? It
Caroline Ruwet (14:52):
Absolutely does, yeah, and access to it, sure,
right? Times throughout yourlife is incredibly. Important,
and I'll give you just one, oneexample of that, if you're not
going to get your preventativehealth screenings, small issues
can turn into large issues, andthose large issues can be as
dramatic as shortening your lifeexpectancy, for example, if you
(15:14):
do develop diabetes, right? Andwe know that black and brown
communities, for example, aredisproportionately affected by
diabetes, meaning they getdiabetes more than their white
counterparts do. If you're notgoing in for your preventative
care and getting your blood workdone to be monitoring something
like that. We might not knowabout it until you're older and
it's more severe, and at thatpoint in time, maybe you're
(15:35):
looking at something likeamputations. Right circulation
isn't so great. And thenthere's, you know, comorbidities
or different other types ofhealth risks that come with not
being able to take advantage ofpreventive care and getting that
under control earlier. There'sjust a lot more that can go
wrong, and that's what'scontributing to that vast
difference in life expectancy,which is just one metric, right
(15:57):
when you're looking at healthdisparities,.
Nancy Barrow (15:59):
And it's great, because I think I saw that you
partner too with communityhealth centers, which are really
important for those communities,you know?
Caroline Ruwet (16:07):
Yeah and so that's a big part of our
strategy. We look at this datathat we got from the uninsured
as well as the healthdisparities, and we're able to
find a certain pocket, pocketsin the state of Connecticut, at
a zip code level, that are moreimpacted than others, and that's
where we do more of our inperson events. When I put my
marketing strategy together,that's where I get more
billboards. And if there's not abillboard to purchase, we get a
(16:28):
mobile billboard, which is likea truck. Can we drive it through
major cities and streets and wepark it in major shopping
centers in those areas to tryand get the word out more. So
that is a big reason why we didlower and we're able to lower
the uninsured rate from nine to5% but we can do better. We want
to get that as close to zero aspossible. And we also want to be
addressing these healthdisparities, because just having
(16:50):
access or an insurance cardisn't going to get the job done.
People have to be able to go andbook an appointment, get to
their appointment, get theirprescription drugs and
maintenance drugs. If they needthose things, there's a whole
host of things that have tohappen along this process in the
continuum of care in order tomake sure that health
disparities are a thing of thepast. And that's really what
we're working toward.
Nancy Barrow (17:11):
Connecticut Paid Leave does as well. Yeah, it's
wonderful that we
Caroline Ruwet (17:15):
A lot of shared values between our
organizations, which is why I'mso happy to be here and talking
with your listeners. It's reallygreat work that we can do
alongside each other.
Nancy Barrow (17:24):
And also mental health services that you include
these in your plans, which Ithink is so vitally important,
and I'm thankful that you guysdo that.
Caroline Ruwet (17:33):
Yeah, it's really interesting. You know,
when the Affordable Care Act, orthe ACA was passed more than a
decade ago, at this point intime, which is, which is how we
exist. And the reason for us,there were 10 essential health
benefits that were determinedthat needed to be covered under
every single health plan offeredon any exchange, any state based
(17:54):
exchange, the Federal model herein Connecticut, right we're
Access Health CT. So there's 10essential health benefits that
have to be covered on everysingle plan that we offer.
Mental health is one of those.
And prior to the Affordable CareAct, mental health was something
that was not covered on a lot ofinsurance plans. So we're really
happy to say that any plan onAccess Health CT that you
purchase, or even if you'recovered on Medicaid, mental
(18:16):
health is covered. And that'sthat's so incredibly important.
And then one other thing thatI'd like to call out that that
really changed the game is thefact that pre existing
conditions don't exist now as aresult of the Affordable Care
Act. So before the ACA waspassed, say you had a diagnosis
of cancer or diabetes orsomething like that, when you
(18:37):
went to re up your insurance,they might decide that they
didn't want to cover you becauseit was expensive for them,
because you had that conditionthat was called a pre existing
condition. You had it before youwent to enroll in health
insurance. Now that's not athing. Insurance companies can't
say we don't want to cover youbecause you have this condition
and you knew about it prior tobeing enrolled. So that's
(18:57):
another thing that's reallyhelping a lot of people, you
know, stay covered, getting thehealth care that they need, and
so things don't get to be in areally bad situation. And
thinking about the fact thatmental health care could have
been a pre existing condition,and some reason why, you know,
somebody didn't want to, youknow, cover you that's really
terrifying, right? People reallyneed to be covered for these
important issues. So reallyhappy that that's a part of all
(19:19):
of our plans.
Nancy Barrow (19:21):
Yeah and Connecticut paid leave also
covers mental health andaddiction treatments as well,
and and it's pretty flexible,which I really love about our
program, because you can use the12 weeks of income replacement
in a block and take them alltogether or intermittent or
reduce schedule leave. So Ireally appreciate that we can
work in connection with yourplans as well.
Caroline Ruwet (19:43):
Agreed, you know, agreed.
Nancy Barrow (19:44):
It's really wonderful. Let's talk about the
enrollment fairs. What's yourstrategy in holding these
seminars and where you decide tohold the enrollment seminars?
Caroline Ruwet (19:52):
Yeah, that's a really great question. So going
back to the data, right? Italked about the two reports
that we commissioned, one onthe. Insured rate, and one on
health disparities. And by theway, the US Census also releases
data on these topics as well,and we look at that data too. So
there's a lot of different dataresources. We have to figure out
where in Connecticut are morepeople uninsured? Where do
(20:14):
people need that help? And fairsare a really good example of how
we do this. So we look at thedata for the highest indexing
zip codes of the uninsured, andwe host our events there. And so
enrollment fairs are one day.
Pop up events during openenrollment. They usually take
place on nights or weekends. Weusually run out of place in like
a church or the Fw, you know,Senior Community Center,
(20:39):
libraries, yes, we'll run outsome space in a public area and
invite you to come. And there wehave brokers. We have
application counselors that canhelp you through that process so
that you can enroll in a plan.
And even if you didn't bring allthe documents and things that
you needed with us, you can comeget help at a lot of the other
events too. And speaking ofthat, outside of our enrollment
(21:02):
fairs, those kind of one day popup events, we also have places
called enrollment locations.
These locations are availableMonday through Friday all year
long, because sometimes youmight find yourself without
insurance, maybe you lost yourjob, voluntarily or
involuntarily, right? That opensup what's called a special
enrollment period, and so youwould have time to enroll
outside of the typical openenrollment period, right? What
(21:25):
do you do then? So you can go tothese static locations. They're
available Monday through Fridayduring normal business hours.
And you can find all of them onour website, at Access Health,
ct.com click, get help. Andyou'll find all of our fairs,
and you'll have find all of ourenrollment locations where you
can go so you can find helpreally, you know, during your
business, Business Week, rightduring normal business hours,
(21:46):
whether you need help at nightor on a weekend or, you know,
all throughout the year, there'sa lot of resources available for
folks. And I think a lot ofpeople think that they have to
do it alone, and that's why theydon't do it. Or maybe they
choose a plan, and it doesn'treally work out very well for
them. So I highly encourage youto take advantage of these free
help opportunities, whether it'sa fair or a location, and find
someone to help you through theprocess. You don't have to do it
(22:09):
alone.
Nancy Barrow (22:11):
And how do you help small businesses with their
health insurance plans? That'sinteresting, that you help.
Caroline Ruwet (22:18):
Yeah. So we also have the small business side. So
rather than individuals, youknow, small businesses really
suffer too. It can be reallyhard to to, you know, keep
employees enrolled and becompetitive when there's so many
other things vying for your timeas a small business owner. And
so we have what's called ourshop program, and and they
really help enroll people indifferent small business
(22:39):
opportunities as well. So that'savailable year round. A lot of
different, you know, employershave open enrollment periods
throughout the year, so thosefolks are not subject to the
open enrollment period. We areworking on, you know, an
innovative solution that we lookforward to making an
announcement on in the comingmonths. So stay tuned. I'm just
not ready yet. Oh yeah!
Unknown (22:59):
And that was going to be my next question in this
holiday season and going intothe new year. What are you
looking to do differently?
Caroline Ruwet (23:08):
Yeah so we're really looking at finding more
competitive ways to help thesmall business community. You
know, rates increase everysingle year for health
insurance, and the smallbusiness community has just been
really hammered throughout thelast couple of years. In
particular, I do want to mentionthat access health, CT, has
nothing to do with the rates,right? Those are set by the
Connecticut insurancedepartment, and they work with
(23:28):
the different carriers. We havezero influence on that. And so
we're frustrated too, to see, tosee that kind of community, you
know, suffer as much with it,with the increased rates. And so
we're really looking at aninnovative alternative that
hopefully should bring costsdown for employers and
employees, and we really lookforward to sharing more about
(23:48):
that.
Nancy Barrow (23:49):
So exciting. Can't wait for that. Yeah, in 2025
What would you like peoplelistening to take away from the
podcast today?
Caroline Ruwet (23:57):
Yeah. So chances are you know, if you're
listening, you may have healthinsurance coverage through an
employer, and if you're on leaveand you're going back right,
you're you're going to get thosebenefits back again, but chances
are, there's going to be somepoint in your life where that's
not the case. And so I reallywant people to just remember the
brand that they can go toaccess, lct.com, if they find
(24:19):
themselves in a place where theydon't have health insurance. And
then you know some things thatthat are related to that, right?
If you lose a job, sometimes youthink Cobra is your only option.
And so what Cobra is, is atemporary extension of your
employer's health care coverageplan. So it's what you are
enrolled in. Can get extended.
That said, usually an employerpays a portion of that monthly
(24:42):
premium, right? And theywouldn't be doing that anymore
under COVID, or, excuse me,under COBRA, yeah, and so you
would be responsible for payingthe entire amount. That's
usually pretty expensive, andfolks don't know that they can
come to access LCT as analternative. So. You can do that
at two different points. One,when you lose that coverage, and
then you go, and then you'reoffered Cobra, you can
(25:04):
immediately come to accesshealth dt, and you can figure
out if there's a better optionfor you financially with good
coverage here, or after yourCobra ends, you can then come to
access health CT as well. Soboth of those points are
considered loss of coverage,which opens up a special
enrollment period. So those arethe things that I really want
your listeners to understand.
And if you find yourself withouthealth insurance right now,
(25:28):
please come to access healthdt.com, to shop, compare and
enroll, because we are in ouropen enrollment period. And I'll
leave you with two importantdeadlines. Should you be in this
case, you need to enroll byDecember 15 in order to have
coverage starting on January 1,open enrollment ends on January
15. But if you enroll onDecember 16 through January 15,
(25:52):
your coverage would not startuntil February 1. So you could
find yourself with a month gapthere unless you enroll. So
truly, if you need healthinsurance coverage come in on or
before December 15 to make surethat your coverage starts on
January 1, and we will help youthrough that process. And then
lastly, you know, maybe youcan't come to an in person
event, but you don't want to dothis alone. We do have a call
(26:15):
center, and that phone number is1-855-805-4325, and there is
call center representatives thatcan help you in more than 100
languages. So lots of helpavailable there too.
Nancy Barrow (26:29):
Any last thoughts for you about how Connecticut
paid leave really helps in thehealthcare world like you do?
Caroline Ruwet (26:36):
Yeah. So going back to that kind of point that
you know, here in the UnitedStates and in Connecticut
included, our health insuranceis largely tied to our
employment, and so if you needto leave that for portion of
time, oftentimes that meantrisking your health insurance
altogether. And oftentimespeople couldn't flat out afford
(26:57):
even just a couple of weeks,right? If they needed to take
care of someone for just acouple of weeks on hospice. How
would they pay their bills? Howwould they keep their insurance?
And so they just flat out, we'renot able to, and I think that
Connecticut paid leave andaccess LCT, working together
provides the assurance forpeople to be able to do those
things that they need to,because at the end of the day,
we're people, we're not justemployees, we're not robots. We
(27:18):
have aging parents, we havechildren, we have our own health
needs, and so being able to takea little time off and be able to
pay our bills, and then alsomake sure that our healthcare is
covered ourselves and be able toafford that too, is all really
important to being productivemembers of society and honestly,
a part of the workforce longterm. So I truly believe that
what we're doing together tohelp kind of solve all the
(27:39):
problems that kind of areassociated with being able to be
in the workforce long term, ishelpful, not only for the people
who need the resources, but it'salso really beneficial to the
workforce. In the long run,there's so much legacy knowledge
that goes away with people ifthey're just not able to be
there, even because it's just aportion of time that they need
to, you know, take off, becausewe're able to provide that in
(28:00):
terms of time and money andhealth insurance, people are now
able to do what they need to dofor themselves, and then
ultimately, they can be moreproductive at work as well. So I
think at the end of the day,it's really beneficial for the
people who need the resources,but also the workforce and the
greater community as well.
Unknown (28:17):
We really value your partnership, you know? We
really, we really do.
Caroline Ruwet (28:21):
The feeling is mutual!
Nancy Barrow (28:22):
Yes, it's wonderful that we have this
relationship. Caroline Ruwet isthe Director of Marketing at
Access Health. Thank you so muchfor being on the paid leave
podcast.
Caroline Ruwet (28:32):
Thank you. We really appreciate the
opportunity to connect with youand your listeners.
Nancy Barrow (28:35):
For information about enrollment fairs or
questions you can go to accesshealth, ct.com and for
information or to apply forbenefits, go to ctpaidleave.org
This has been another edition ofThe Paid Leave Podcast. Please
like and subscribe so you'll benotified about new podcasts that
become available ConnecticutPaid Leave is a public act with
(28:58):
a personal purpose. I'm NancyBarrow and thanks for listening.
Hello Connecticut, and welcome to The Paid Leave
Podcast. The title basicallysays it all. I'm Nancy Barrow,
and I will be delving into thisnew state program and how it can
help you and your family. Thispodcast will give you
information you should knowabout Connecticut Paid Leave and
maybe just a little bit more.
Connecticut Paid Leave bringspeace of mind to your home,
(00:22):
family and workplace. Welcome toThe Paid Leave Podcast.
This is the time of year thatpeople are looking to enroll or
to actually change their healthinsurance or dental insurance.
And Access Health enrollmentfairs are currently going on
across Connecticut. AccessHealth is the state's official
health insurance marketplace,and they have helped over 1
(00:46):
million individuals and smallbusinesses get health insurance
since their start in 2013 theirefforts have played a crucial
role in reducing Connecticut'suninsured rate from 9.2% to
5.2%. Access Health andConnecticut Paid Leave have
partnered to help each other'smessages get out to workers in
Connecticut. Caroline Ruwet isthe Director of Marketing at
(01:09):
Access Health and Caroline,welcome to The Paid Leave
Podcast.
Caroline Ruwet (01:13):
Thank you for having me. Really appreciate it!
Nancy Barrow (01:15):
For Connecticut residents who aren't familiar
with what you do, can youexplain what Access Health does.
Caroline Ruwet (01:22):
Yeah, so like you mentioned, Access Health CT
is the state's official healthinsurance marketplace, and we're
the place where you can come toshop, compare and enroll in
health or dental insurance. Andthat's particularly important
for people who might not havehealth or dental coverage made
available to them through anemployer, right? That's
typically how Americans andConnecticut residents get their
(01:43):
health insurance. So if youdon't have that, sometimes it
can feel like there's not a lotof options, but there are, and
here in Connecticut, AccessHealth CT is where you can come.
So we have over or we have 22plans actually, to choose from
during the open enrollmentperiod this year, so for
coverage starting in January andgoing through December, and
(02:04):
there's six different, what wecall standalone dental plans.
And this is important, becausesome people might even have
health insurance availablethrough them, through an
employer, but maybe it's a smallbusiness and they just don't
have the resources to offersomething like a dental plan. If
that's the case for you, you cancome to access healthct.com and
enroll in just a dental plan.
Wow. And so, yeah, it's a reallygood option for a lot of people,
(02:24):
or maybe you work two part timejobs, right? So you don't get
health insurance through anemployer. This is a great option
for you to come in. And then Iwould also tell people, there's
a couple of different types ofinsurance or coverage options
available to you, but you justhave to fill out one
application. Oh, you go out oneapplication, and then it'll let
you know what you're eligiblefor, and that might be a health
(02:45):
a traditional health insuranceplan from a carrier like anthem
or Connecticut, or it might evenbe Medicaid. So if you qualify
for Husky Health here inConnecticut, we can help you get
enrolled in that too. So youdon't have to go knock on a lot
of different doors to figureout, you know, what kind of
coverage you might be eligiblefor. One stop shopping here and
we can figure out what the bestplan is for you.
Nancy Barrow (03:08):
And what did people do before 2013 before you
guys started? What did peopledo?
Caroline Ruwet (03:14):
Yeah. So there are very limited options.
Probably the most popular onewould be to go to work directly
with an insurance carrier, goingto somebody like an anthem or a
Connecticut that does businessin your state, and looking for a
health plan to pay for directlythrough that. Here's the big
difference, though, AccessHealth CT is the only place
(03:35):
where you can get financialassistance to help you pay
towards the cost of yourinsurance or coverage before
2013 that wasn't available, andso you would be paying the
entire cost of that premium,that monthly payment, right? And
so now, with financial helpavailable, these are federal
subsidies and potentially somestate subsidies if you qualify
(03:56):
for some programs like thecovered Connecticut program,
that really lessen the cost foryou. And so it's a much better
option. And if you know, youwere somebody that's been in
this boat since, you know,before 2013 and you haven't come
in to figure out what youroptions were, because you
thought you would be paying, youknow, just as much as you were
before, chances are you're goingto get a significant decrease in
cost. In fact, nearly 90% of ourcustomers get some sort of
(04:21):
financial assistance to helpoffset the cost of that monthly
payment. So there is financialassistance, and most people do
qualify.
Nancy Barrow (04:28):
And who exactly do you cover? Do you cover kids? Do
you cover, you know, everybodyin Connecticut, and do they have
to be a Connecticut resident?
Caroline Ruwet (04:36):
Yes. So for Access Healt CT, you do need to
be a Connecticut resident. Butother states have state based
exchanges, or if they don't havea state based exchange, they
follow the federal model. Soevery state has a version of us,
but in order to get coveragethrough Access Health CT, you do
need to be a resident, and we docover about a variety of people
for our health insurance plan.
So if you don't qualify forMedicaid, we're. We're really
(04:58):
looking at folks between 18 and65 okay, because once you turn
65 you're eligible for Medicare,right? Okay? And if you're below
18, chances are you're going toqualify for the Children's
Health Insurance Program, whichis the part of Medicaid, also
known as chip so we also enrollpeople in those Medicaid
programs, part of Husky healthas well as the Children's Health
(05:20):
Insurance Program. So if you areup to age 65 we can help you.
There is one exception, becausehealthcare is complicated,
right? Always an exception, butthis is an important and nuanced
one that you might be interestedin. We can offer a dental plan,
those stand alone dental plans,to anybody. Chances are, your
children's health insurance, andeven some of the insurance
(05:42):
products you can purchasethrough us do have some dental
available to you, but if youwant to increase that, you can
buy a standalone dental plan,and they're also available for
Medicare eligible folks. So ifyou're 65 or older, you're on
just the basic Medicare maybeyou can't afford to buy up to
Medicare Advantage or somethinglike that that has much stronger
dental coverage for you, you canpurchase a dental plan through
(06:06):
Access Health DC. So again, ifyou're 65 or older and you're
looking for better dentalcoverage, come in and check out
your options. You can enrollthrough us, and it's a really
good opportunity.
Nancy Barrow (06:16):
Well, let's talk about sole proprietors, who are
not insured by a company, andthey're obviously looking to
have their coverage. How do theynavigate finding the best
insurance that's affordable tothem?
Caroline Ruwet (06:27):
Yeah, it's a complicated process. There's
really no way around that. Andif you're you know, a sole
proprietor, chances are a lot ofyour time and resources is being
spent on developing yourbusiness. And so we can imagine
it's a frustrating process ingeneral, but then just layering
that on the lack of time can bereally frustrating. My best
advice is to work with acertified broker. So certified
(06:49):
brokers are actually licensed bythe state of Connecticut. They
have to do a lot of courseworkto truly understand the ins and
outs of the health insuranceindustry and specifically how it
operates in the state ofConnecticut, they have to pass
them tests in order to get theirlicense, so they truly know what
they're doing, and they're notjust somebody who's looking at
this from the outside. They'refree to work with so there's
(07:11):
nothing that you have to putinto it, and the reason for that
is because they get a commissionfrom the insurance company when
you enroll, and so the insurancecompany is actually baked that
into their monthly premiums. Theactuaries and all those people
who figure out how muchinsurance is going to cost, they
figure that out ahead of time,and that broker only gets paid
per month that you're enrolled.
So they really want to make surethat they're asked they're
(07:34):
asking you the right questionsto get you in the right plan,
because if you leave that plan,maybe, or something like that,
then their commission goes away.
So there's a lot invested ontheir side to make sure that
they find a plan that's rightfor you. Yeah, their motivation,
yeah. And they're also the onlytype of person that can help you
(07:54):
and suggest a plan you can workwith a certified application
counselor. Those are people thatreally understand our
application and things likethat, but they can't actually
suggest a plan for you, becausethey don't have that education.
They don't have background thatbrokers do, which is why there's
such an advantage to that. Andyou can find one on our website.
If you go to our website andhit, get help. There's a whole
(08:14):
field that you can pull outabout brokers so that you can
limit, you know, maybe the townthat they're in, the languages
that they speak. Maybe that's abarrier for some folks too. You
can find a broker that speaksSpanish, for example, or one
that's, you know, only withinfive miles of where you live, in
case you don't havetransportation, and you want to
make sure that you can getthere. So they're very, very
accessible, very knowledgeable,and really good resources for
(08:36):
those, you know, soloproprietors as it were.
Nancy Barrow (08:39):
And how many are there across Connecticut? Is
there a huge number of them?
Caroline Ruwet (08:43):
There are, there are 1000s of brokers. 650 of
them are actually certified byAccess Health CT, so that they
Nancy Barrow (08:49):
Access Health's mission, which I loved on your
really know not only otherinsurance plans to offer you,
website, is reducing theuninsured rate and eliminating
but the 22 different healthplans right on on our exchange
health disparities. Let's talkabout first, reducing the
this year, as well as the sixdental plans. So 650 of them.
There is not a shortage at all.
They are ready to work with you.
uninsured across Connecticut.
How do you do that? And why isthere such a problem with people
(09:16):
finding insurance?
Caroline Ruwet (09:19):
It's, you know, finding a health insurance plan
is, is really complicated. Ithink a lot of us that even are
employed and get the two orthree, you know, plan options
every single year to look atduring your open enrollment
period. Sometimes you're justlooking through, you know,
charts and graphs of, you know,all the different things that
would be covered and at whatexpense, and is there a co
(09:40):
insurance or CO payments?
There's a lot of jargon and alot of words that are specific
to the industry that are just sohard to navigate. And so
ultimately, you know, it's justreally important to be able to
provide that opportunity topeople to get insured. It's just
really, really confusing. Sothat's one of the reasons why we
were started. And then also forwhat we talked about earlier,
(10:00):
right? What do you do if youdon't have health insurance,
available job? And so that's thebig problem. Is that, you know,
sometimes people don't have fulltime employment. They might be
working two jobs. Maybe they'reonly working part time. Maybe
you got laid off, or maybe youhad to involuntarily take some
time off. Maybe you took FMLAfor a while to care for somebody
who was on hospice. And maybethe best estimate at the time
(10:22):
was they were going to be, youknow, only there for about four
weeks, but, you know, maybe thatperson had a really remarkable
recovery, and they're there forlonger, and you need to leave
right the workforce, even ifit's temporarily. What are you
going to do for healthinsurance? Because that's tied
to your job. The fact thathealth insurance is tied to
eight employment is really thething that it makes it hard to
(10:42):
keep people insured and keepthat uninsured rate at zero.
That's pretty much impossible,because there's always going to
be some flux right in theworkforce when insurance is tied
to people's jobs. So that's thebig challenge. But in
Connecticut, you mentioned, youknow, since our existence, we
brought the uninsured rate fromover 9% down to just over 5%
which is extraordinary. There'sa lot of other states in the
(11:04):
country where the uninsured rateis actually pushing about 17 to
20% in some cases, so we'redoing a really good job here in
Connecticut, and I'm reallyproud of that and the team that
we work with in order to getthings done. And I think a big
part of it is just making peopleaware of it and having
opportunities like this toconnect with with folks and let
them know where they can go tofind the coverage options. And
really, that's what it is. It'scomplicated and time consuming
(11:27):
at times, and so folks sometimesjust don't make it a priority.
But we're here to say, hey,we're making it easier for you.
We can partner you up with freein person help to get it done.
So let's do that.
Nancy Barrow (11:39):
And let's talk about the health equity in
Connecticut, and how do you helpwith this?
Caroline Ruwet (11:44):
Yeah, so what's really interesting is we
commissioned a study, actuallytwo one was on the uninsured
rate, and we really studiedthat, and then a year later, we
commissioned a study on healthdisparities. And so there's a
lot more data that we have towork with now than we did when
we originally launched. And whatwe're finding is that even
though Connecticut has a fairlylow uninsured rate, there's
(12:06):
actually quite a bit of healthdisparities going on here that
we need to address, and so thatvery often times is related to
the social determinants ofhealth, right? Which is a whole
thought process, and there'sseveral of them, and I'll give a
couple examples here. One istransportation. If you don't
have access to transportation,even if you have insurance or
(12:27):
coverage, it's really hard touse it, right, right? It's hard
to get to a doctor'sappointment. Another one is
language. If you can't findsomebody that helps speak your
language to even get insured,that's a barrier. And then even
if you cross that finding aprovider that speaks your
language, right? That's an issuetoo. So there's a whole host of
social determinants of health,and we really struggle with
(12:48):
those here in Connecticut, andso we have an entire department.
It actually used to be part ofmarketing, which is the
department I leave, I leave, butwe actually, a couple years ago,
broke out a whole newdepartment. It's health equity
and outreach, that's what wecall it, and it's a lot of in
person events, really what wecall hand to hand combat, right?
Getting in touch with people,having real conversations, and
(13:09):
then also working with localnonprofits. There's over 2000
community partners that we havethat help champion our message
to people. So rather than ushaving go directly to everybody
and foster those conversations.
There's only so many of us.
We're only about 100 peopleright total. We actually work
with our network of communitypartners and nonprofits where
folks already go, maybe for someother service. Maybe they need
(13:31):
energy assistance. Maybe theyjust move to town and they just
want to know what resources areavailable to them. And they're
not necessarily in a financiallypoor, just poor place, whatever
it is, they go to thesenonprofits, these community
resources, to find the thingsthat they need that are going to
make their lives better, andwhat they might come in for is
something like transportation.
And then we find out through acertain intake process at that
at that community partner, thatthey also don't have insurance,
(13:53):
and we can help them with thattoo, or they can help them with
that too. And so it really is awhole village type of strategy
that we have at Access Healthdt, and we could not do that
alone, and so it's a huge thanksto our community partners that
help us get that done.
Nancy Barrow (14:08):
Yeah, I have seen you at a bunch of events that we
do too, because our outreach ispretty much the same as yours,
right? So we do a lot of healthevents and health fairs, so we
do see you a lot, and we'rehappy that we've partnered with
you and we work together to getour messages out there. I also
read on your website thatthere's a disparity in life
expectancy across Connecticuttowns, and it was so interesting
(14:31):
to read that in Westport, whichis 91% white, the life
expectancy is 89.1 years, and ina neighborhood at Northeast
Hartford, where 94% of thepeople are black and Hispanic,
the life expectancy is just 68.9years, and that has to do with
healthcare, right? It
Caroline Ruwet (14:52):
Absolutely does, yeah, and access to it, sure,
right? Times throughout yourlife is incredibly. Important,
and I'll give you just one, oneexample of that, if you're not
going to get your preventativehealth screenings, small issues
can turn into large issues, andthose large issues can be as
dramatic as shortening your lifeexpectancy, for example, if you
(15:14):
do develop diabetes, right? Andwe know that black and brown
communities, for example, aredisproportionately affected by
diabetes, meaning they getdiabetes more than their white
counterparts do. If you're notgoing in for your preventative
care and getting your blood workdone to be monitoring something
like that. We might not knowabout it until you're older and
it's more severe, and at thatpoint in time, maybe you're
(15:35):
looking at something likeamputations. Right circulation
isn't so great. And thenthere's, you know, comorbidities
or different other types ofhealth risks that come with not
being able to take advantage ofpreventive care and getting that
under control earlier. There'sjust a lot more that can go
wrong, and that's what'scontributing to that vast
difference in life expectancy,which is just one metric, right
(15:57):
when you're looking at healthdisparities,.
Nancy Barrow (15:59):
And it's great, because I think I saw that you
partner too with communityhealth centers, which are really
important for those communities,you know?
Caroline Ruwet (16:07):
Yeah and so that's a big part of our
strategy. We look at this datathat we got from the uninsured
as well as the healthdisparities, and we're able to
find a certain pocket, pocketsin the state of Connecticut, at
a zip code level, that are moreimpacted than others, and that's
where we do more of our inperson events. When I put my
marketing strategy together,that's where I get more
billboards. And if there's not abillboard to purchase, we get a
(16:28):
mobile billboard, which is likea truck. Can we drive it through
major cities and streets and wepark it in major shopping
centers in those areas to tryand get the word out more. So
that is a big reason why we didlower and we're able to lower
the uninsured rate from nine to5% but we can do better. We want
to get that as close to zero aspossible. And we also want to be
addressing these healthdisparities, because just having
(16:50):
access or an insurance cardisn't going to get the job done.
People have to be able to go andbook an appointment, get to
their appointment, get theirprescription drugs and
maintenance drugs. If they needthose things, there's a whole
host of things that have tohappen along this process in the
continuum of care in order tomake sure that health
disparities are a thing of thepast. And that's really what
we're working toward.
Nancy Barrow (17:11):
Connecticut Paid Leave does as well. Yeah, it's
wonderful that we
Caroline Ruwet (17:15):
A lot of shared values between our
organizations, which is why I'mso happy to be here and talking
with your listeners. It's reallygreat work that we can do
alongside each other.
Nancy Barrow (17:24):
And also mental health services that you include
these in your plans, which Ithink is so vitally important,
and I'm thankful that you guysdo that.
Caroline Ruwet (17:33):
Yeah, it's really interesting. You know,
when the Affordable Care Act, orthe ACA was passed more than a
decade ago, at this point intime, which is, which is how we
exist. And the reason for us,there were 10 essential health
benefits that were determinedthat needed to be covered under
every single health plan offeredon any exchange, any state based
(17:54):
exchange, the Federal model herein Connecticut, right we're
Access Health CT. So there's 10essential health benefits that
have to be covered on everysingle plan that we offer.
Mental health is one of those.
And prior to the Affordable CareAct, mental health was something
that was not covered on a lot ofinsurance plans. So we're really
happy to say that any plan onAccess Health CT that you
purchase, or even if you'recovered on Medicaid, mental
(18:16):
health is covered. And that'sthat's so incredibly important.
And then one other thing thatI'd like to call out that that
really changed the game is thefact that pre existing
conditions don't exist now as aresult of the Affordable Care
Act. So before the ACA waspassed, say you had a diagnosis
of cancer or diabetes orsomething like that, when you
(18:37):
went to re up your insurance,they might decide that they
didn't want to cover you becauseit was expensive for them,
because you had that conditionthat was called a pre existing
condition. You had it before youwent to enroll in health
insurance. Now that's not athing. Insurance companies can't
say we don't want to cover youbecause you have this condition
and you knew about it prior tobeing enrolled. So that's
(18:57):
another thing that's reallyhelping a lot of people, you
know, stay covered, getting thehealth care that they need, and
so things don't get to be in areally bad situation. And
thinking about the fact thatmental health care could have
been a pre existing condition,and some reason why, you know,
somebody didn't want to, youknow, cover you that's really
terrifying, right? People reallyneed to be covered for these
important issues. So reallyhappy that that's a part of all
(19:19):
of our plans.
Nancy Barrow (19:21):
Yeah and Connecticut paid leave also
covers mental health andaddiction treatments as well,
and and it's pretty flexible,which I really love about our
program, because you can use the12 weeks of income replacement
in a block and take them alltogether or intermittent or
reduce schedule leave. So Ireally appreciate that we can
work in connection with yourplans as well.
Caroline Ruwet (19:43):
Agreed, you know, agreed.
Nancy Barrow (19:44):
It's really wonderful. Let's talk about the
enrollment fairs. What's yourstrategy in holding these
seminars and where you decide tohold the enrollment seminars?
Caroline Ruwet (19:52):
Yeah, that's a really great question. So going
back to the data, right? Italked about the two reports
that we commissioned, one onthe. Insured rate, and one on
health disparities. And by theway, the US Census also releases
data on these topics as well,and we look at that data too. So
there's a lot of different dataresources. We have to figure out
where in Connecticut are morepeople uninsured? Where do
(20:14):
people need that help? And fairsare a really good example of how
we do this. So we look at thedata for the highest indexing
zip codes of the uninsured, andwe host our events there. And so
enrollment fairs are one day.
Pop up events during openenrollment. They usually take
place on nights or weekends. Weusually run out of place in like
a church or the Fw, you know,Senior Community Center,
(20:39):
libraries, yes, we'll run outsome space in a public area and
invite you to come. And there wehave brokers. We have
application counselors that canhelp you through that process so
that you can enroll in a plan.
And even if you didn't bring allthe documents and things that
you needed with us, you can comeget help at a lot of the other
events too. And speaking ofthat, outside of our enrollment
(21:02):
fairs, those kind of one day popup events, we also have places
called enrollment locations.
These locations are availableMonday through Friday all year
long, because sometimes youmight find yourself without
insurance, maybe you lost yourjob, voluntarily or
involuntarily, right? That opensup what's called a special
enrollment period, and so youwould have time to enroll
outside of the typical openenrollment period, right? What
(21:25):
do you do then? So you can go tothese static locations. They're
available Monday through Fridayduring normal business hours.
And you can find all of them onour website, at Access Health,
ct.com click, get help. Andyou'll find all of our fairs,
and you'll have find all of ourenrollment locations where you
can go so you can find helpreally, you know, during your
business, Business Week, rightduring normal business hours,
(21:46):
whether you need help at nightor on a weekend or, you know,
all throughout the year, there'sa lot of resources available for
folks. And I think a lot ofpeople think that they have to
do it alone, and that's why theydon't do it. Or maybe they
choose a plan, and it doesn'treally work out very well for
them. So I highly encourage youto take advantage of these free
help opportunities, whether it'sa fair or a location, and find
someone to help you through theprocess. You don't have to do it
(22:09):
alone.
Nancy Barrow (22:11):
And how do you help small businesses with their
health insurance plans? That'sinteresting, that you help.
Caroline Ruwet (22:18):
Yeah. So we also have the small business side. So
rather than individuals, youknow, small businesses really
suffer too. It can be reallyhard to to, you know, keep
employees enrolled and becompetitive when there's so many
other things vying for your timeas a small business owner. And
so we have what's called ourshop program, and and they
really help enroll people indifferent small business
(22:39):
opportunities as well. So that'savailable year round. A lot of
different, you know, employershave open enrollment periods
throughout the year, so thosefolks are not subject to the
open enrollment period. We areworking on, you know, an
innovative solution that we lookforward to making an
announcement on in the comingmonths. So stay tuned. I'm just
not ready yet. Oh yeah!
Unknown (22:59):
And that was going to be my next question in this
holiday season and going intothe new year. What are you
looking to do differently?
Caroline Ruwet (23:08):
Yeah so we're really looking at finding more
competitive ways to help thesmall business community. You
know, rates increase everysingle year for health
insurance, and the smallbusiness community has just been
really hammered throughout thelast couple of years. In
particular, I do want to mentionthat access health, CT, has
nothing to do with the rates,right? Those are set by the
Connecticut insurancedepartment, and they work with
(23:28):
the different carriers. We havezero influence on that. And so
we're frustrated too, to see, tosee that kind of community, you
know, suffer as much with it,with the increased rates. And so
we're really looking at aninnovative alternative that
hopefully should bring costsdown for employers and
employees, and we really lookforward to sharing more about
(23:48):
that.
Nancy Barrow (23:49):
So exciting. Can't wait for that. Yeah, in 2025
What would you like peoplelistening to take away from the
podcast today?
Caroline Ruwet (23:57):
Yeah. So chances are you know, if you're
listening, you may have healthinsurance coverage through an
employer, and if you're on leaveand you're going back right,
you're you're going to get thosebenefits back again, but chances
are, there's going to be somepoint in your life where that's
not the case. And so I reallywant people to just remember the
brand that they can go toaccess, lct.com, if they find
(24:19):
themselves in a place where theydon't have health insurance. And
then you know some things thatthat are related to that, right?
If you lose a job, sometimes youthink Cobra is your only option.
And so what Cobra is, is atemporary extension of your
employer's health care coverageplan. So it's what you are
enrolled in. Can get extended.
That said, usually an employerpays a portion of that monthly
(24:42):
premium, right? And theywouldn't be doing that anymore
under COVID, or, excuse me,under COBRA, yeah, and so you
would be responsible for payingthe entire amount. That's
usually pretty expensive, andfolks don't know that they can
come to access LCT as analternative. So. You can do that
at two different points. One,when you lose that coverage, and
then you go, and then you'reoffered Cobra, you can
(25:04):
immediately come to accesshealth dt, and you can figure
out if there's a better optionfor you financially with good
coverage here, or after yourCobra ends, you can then come to
access health CT as well. Soboth of those points are
considered loss of coverage,which opens up a special
enrollment period. So those arethe things that I really want
your listeners to understand.
And if you find yourself withouthealth insurance right now,
(25:28):
please come to access healthdt.com, to shop, compare and
enroll, because we are in ouropen enrollment period. And I'll
leave you with two importantdeadlines. Should you be in this
case, you need to enroll byDecember 15 in order to have
coverage starting on January 1,open enrollment ends on January
15. But if you enroll onDecember 16 through January 15,
(25:52):
your coverage would not startuntil February 1. So you could
find yourself with a month gapthere unless you enroll. So
truly, if you need healthinsurance coverage come in on or
before December 15 to make surethat your coverage starts on
January 1, and we will help youthrough that process. And then
lastly, you know, maybe youcan't come to an in person
event, but you don't want to dothis alone. We do have a call
(26:15):
center, and that phone number is1-855-805-4325, and there is
call center representatives thatcan help you in more than 100
languages. So lots of helpavailable there too.
Nancy Barrow (26:29):
Any last thoughts for you about how Connecticut
paid leave really helps in thehealthcare world like you do?
Caroline Ruwet (26:36):
Yeah. So going back to that kind of point that
you know, here in the UnitedStates and in Connecticut
included, our health insuranceis largely tied to our
employment, and so if you needto leave that for portion of
time, oftentimes that meantrisking your health insurance
altogether. And oftentimespeople couldn't flat out afford
(26:57):
even just a couple of weeks,right? If they needed to take
care of someone for just acouple of weeks on hospice. How
would they pay their bills? Howwould they keep their insurance?
And so they just flat out, we'renot able to, and I think that
Connecticut paid leave andaccess LCT, working together
provides the assurance forpeople to be able to do those
things that they need to,because at the end of the day,
we're people, we're not justemployees, we're not robots. We
(27:18):
have aging parents, we havechildren, we have our own health
needs, and so being able to takea little time off and be able to
pay our bills, and then alsomake sure that our healthcare is
covered ourselves and be able toafford that too, is all really
important to being productivemembers of society and honestly,
a part of the workforce longterm. So I truly believe that
what we're doing together tohelp kind of solve all the
(27:39):
problems that kind of areassociated with being able to be
in the workforce long term, ishelpful, not only for the people
who need the resources, but it'salso really beneficial to the
workforce. In the long run,there's so much legacy knowledge
that goes away with people ifthey're just not able to be
there, even because it's just aportion of time that they need
to, you know, take off, becausewe're able to provide that in
(28:00):
terms of time and money andhealth insurance, people are now
able to do what they need to dofor themselves, and then
ultimately, they can be moreproductive at work as well. So I
think at the end of the day,it's really beneficial for the
people who need the resources,but also the workforce and the
greater community as well.
Unknown (28:17):
We really value your partnership, you know? We
really, we really do.
Caroline Ruwet (28:21):
The feeling is mutual!
Nancy Barrow (28:22):
Yes, it's wonderful that we have this
relationship. Caroline Ruwet isthe Director of Marketing at
Access Health. Thank you so muchfor being on the paid leave
podcast.
Caroline Ruwet (28:32):
Thank you. We really appreciate the
opportunity to connect with youand your listeners.
Nancy Barrow (28:35):
For information about enrollment fairs or
questions you can go to accesshealth, ct.com and for
information or to apply forbenefits, go to ctpaidleave.org
This has been another edition ofThe Paid Leave Podcast. Please
like and subscribe so you'll benotified about new podcasts that
become available ConnecticutPaid Leave is a public act with
(28:58):
a personal purpose. I'm NancyBarrow and thanks for listening.
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