Just over a month after announcing plans to end its self-funded and level-funded insurance business in Connecticut beginning in July, Farmington-based insurer ConnectiCare has told brokers it will also exit the fully insured large group market in the state.
According to an email sent to brokers on Tuesday that was obtained exclusively by Hartford Business Journal, ConnectiCare states it “has made the difficult decision to withdraw from the large group fully insured health insurance market.” It adds that group medical products “offered or issued under ConnectiCare Inc. and ConnectiCare Insurance Company Inc. are affected.”
The insurer, which was acquired by California-based Molina Healthcare Inc. for $350 million in 2024, states that it will no longer issue quotes for fully insured large group plans to new customers.
According to Association Health Plans Inc., in most states a large group health plan is group medical insurance that covers employers or associations with at least 51 employees. Four states require large group plans to have at least 101 employees: California, Colorado, New York and Vermont.
“Large groups with active ConnectiCare fully insured health insurance plans renewing after Dec. 31, 2025 (January 2026 – December 2026 renewals), must transition to new coverage arrangements by their 2026 renewal date to avoid any gaps in coverage,” the email states.
The email includes a chart showing the next renewal dates for large group fully insured plans, along with the last date of coverage. The final renewal date on the chart is Dec. 1, 2026, with the last date of coverage and benefits listed as Nov. 30, 2026.
The email also includes a link to a notice about the decision that ConnectiCare plans to send to its group employer customers, as well as a link to a notice that will be sent to covered employees in those groups after employers are notified.
The email encourages employers to “explore options with their brokers.”
ConnectiCare did not respond to a request for comment.
The latest announcement follows ConnectiCare’s decision in early May to discontinue its self-funded and level-funded business in the state.
That followed its decision in November of 2022 to exit the state’s fully insured small group market.
Despite the combination of those three decisions, the company nonetheless told brokers it “will continue to have a strong presence in Connecticut.”
The email states, “We are committed to helping employers find affordable health insurance options for their employees. We believe that one answer can be found in our individual plans and are excited to provide a solution for employers in CT through an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA).”
Created by the Trump administration in 2019, ICHRAs offer small businesses another way to provide health insurance benefits to their employees. ICHRAs allow employers to provide employees with pretax dollars to help cover the premiums of individual health insurance plans and qualified medical expenses.
The email concludes with ConnectiCare stating that its group customers “have been such an important part of ConnectiCare for many years. We value the relationships we have built with you and your clients and appreciate all of the support that you have given us over the years.”
This is the first major insurance company to exit the fully insured large group market in Connecticut. For the small group market, though, Aetna, Cigna/Oscar Health and nonprofit Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare have all joined ConnectiCare in exiting the state market since 2022.
That has left just two carriers — Anthem and UnitedHealthcare — providing fully insured plans to small employers, which has contributed to higher costs for companies with 50 or fewer workers, experts say.
