The state’s health insurance exchange, Access Health CT, expects higher operating costs in the coming fiscal year, due to new vendor contracts and other expenses.
Access Health’s board on Wednesday approved a $34.6 million budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. That’s up 6 percent from the exchange’s latest forecast for the current fiscal year, and more than 16 percent from the original 2016 budget approved a year ago.
Access Health officials said the increase is driven in part by a three-year contract with a call center vendor that is not yet finalized. The exchange is also working with the Department of Social Services, with which it shares certain costs and systems, to negotiate a new systems maintenance contract.
A 1.65 percent assessment on health insurers will fund 94 percent of the exchange’s budget in 2017, with remaining federal grants that expire in December covering the rest. The assessment is on total health insurance premiums in calendar year 2015, which amounted to more than $2 billion.
Salaries will also increase approximately 10 percent over forecasted 2016 levels, to $8.1 million. That’s mainly due to the conversion of temporary staff to permanent employees, particularly in information technology.
The budget for the coming year also includes funds for final development costs related to an all payer claims database (APCD), meant to improve health outcomes and cost transparency.
Development of the system has been grant funded to date, but that funding has now run out. Access said data collection from health insurers has been slower than expected. In particular, the exchange said Anthem and Aetna have both halted participation, as they work to filter certain out certain data from submissions.
