An early version of a bill outlining the framework for Connecticut’s mandatory health insurance exchange calls for the creation of a 13-member quasi-public agency that would include representatives from business, labor, and the health care industry.
The bill has been raised in the Insurance and Real Estate Committee and goes to a public hearing Monday.
The draft measure calls for the creation of The Connecticut Health Insurance exchange that would have 13 unpaid voting members who would organize the exchange and hire a CEO to administer its programs and activities.
Four of those board members would be appointed by the governor and must include a representative from small employers, labor, consumers and health care providers.
The commissioners of public health and insurance, along with the secretary of the office of policy and management would also get a seat on the board.
The federal health care reform law requires states to set up, no later than Jan. 1 2014, insurance exchanges where individuals or small businesses can obtain coverage from an array of insurers competing for consumers.
Other highlights from Connecticut’s proposed exchange include:
·        Establishing a Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Exchange that would allow employers to access coverage for their employees and allow an employer to specify a level of coverage
·        Assigning a quality rating to each health plan offered through the exchange based on the health plan’s level of coverage
·        Maintaining a web site that contains standardized comparative information on all offered health plans
·        Requiring all plans to provide at least a bronze level of coverage, which means benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60 percent of the full value of benefits under the plan.
See a copy of the bill here.
