The state-run health insurance exchange Access Health Connecticut says its latest small business enrollment numbers are up more than 20% from a year ago, thanks in part to recent changes aimed at boosting persistently low participation.
From Jan. 2019 to Jan. 2020 , the Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, increased the number of enrolled employer groups by 21%, from 247 to 314. Those groups contained 1,508 covered lives as of early this year, up from 1,224 in Jan. 2019, according to John Carbone, product development director at SHOP.
Meanwhile, SHOP has also grown its stand-alone dental insurance offering over the past year, doubling its membership from 1,184 to 3,759.
AHCT hired a consultant last year to help reinvent SHOP’s business strategy.
Under Carbone’s leadership, SHOP has focused on growing its broker relationships. SHOP said its staff conducted more than 200 in-person meetings last year and beefed up broker training.
The effort has borne fruit. Of the current SHOP enrollments, more than 10% came from new broker relationships, the exchange said.
“This has been a pivotal year for Access Health CT Small Business, and we will carry this momentum with us as we grow,” Carbone said. “We will continue to optimize our business plan, increase our outreach and presence within the communities we serve, and communicate opportunities that make coverage possible for Connecticut’s workforce.”
While SHOP is seeing a boost of late, the much larger individual exchange run by Access Health saw an enrollment dip recently.
The exchange reported 107,833 people had elected health plans for 2020. That’s a 3 percent drop from the 111,066 enrollees recorded last year.
Enrollment opened on Nov. 1 and closed on Jan. 15.
