Coming into 2013 Kevin Counihan said he’d be in for a race of a lifetime.
Turns out it was more of a sprint.
Counihan was the man tasked with getting Connecticut’s new, federally mandated health insurance exchange off the ground in a very short time frame, and by many accounts he succeeded.
Unlike the federal government’s exchange, which has been mired in technology glitches and other controversies, Connecticut’s exchange, Access Health CT, has run more smoothly. Is it perfect? Counihan admits it’s not. Last week it was reported that 2,400 customers who bought exchange plans were given incorrect information about their health coverage. Still, Counihan said he’s pleased with the roll out so far.
“We did in 10 months what private sector firms would require three years to do,” said Counihan, who used adjectives like “intense,” “dramatic,” “fun,” and “satisfying,” to describe 2013.
Access Health CT’s exchange went live Oct. 1 and as of Dec. 4 had 23,440 enrollees for private insurance plans or Medicaid. Counihan said the goal is to have 100,000 enrollees by the end of March 2014, a target he’s not totally sure will be hit.
Connecticut had the only exchange in the country that didn’t go down because of its own technology problems. That successful rollout has got Counihan national acclaim. Counihan said he credits a large group of stakeholders — his staff, the state, small businesses, brokers, advocates, etc. — who have been supportive in making the exchange work in Connecticut.
One area he and his team focused on was creating a good customer experience so people would actually use the online marketplace. A recent study by HealthPocket found that Connecticut’s exchange has the quickest process time in the country for residents to review online health plan comparisons. The study was done prior to recent news that some consumers received wrong information.
“We want to make this as easy an experience as possible,” Counihan said. “We are initiating a new round of focus groups to understand how to make the process even easier.”
Moving forward, Counihan said Access Health CT has three focuses: systems IT stability, operational excellence and enrollment. By the end of December, Counihan said they’d like to have about 60,000 people enrolled.
