A newly published report from the Connecticut Insurance Department shows continued enrollment declines among health insurers operating in the local market.
As of the end of 2019, health insurers reported total enrollment of 1.83 million, which was down 6.3% from 1.95 million at the end of 2018, according to data in the annual CID report, which is known as the “Consumer Report Card On Health Insurance Carriers In Connecticut.”
Aetna was the loss leader last year, shedding 80,085 enrollees, or 20% of its total Connecticut customers across its HMO and traditional indemnity plans.
That was nearly two-thirds of the 123,415 enrollees lost by all carriers combined last year, the report shows.
Aetna, which was acquired by CVS Health for $69 billion in late 2018, did not immediately respond to a reporter’s questions Thursday morning about the data.
Meanwhile, Anthem remained the Connecticut market leader by enrollment last year, at 881,054. While that was down by nearly 16,000, or 1.8%, from 2018, it was a smaller decline than a number of other carriers experienced.
As a result, Anthem’s Connecticut market share increased by several percentage points, to 48.2%.
The next closest competitor was Cigna, at 18.3% market share.
Total enrollment in HMO and indemnity plans has been falling for a number of years in the state, according to CID data.
Last year’s total enrollment was down from 2.4 million just four years prior.
The agency has not detailed exactly what’s driving the declines. Some of it could be workers aging into Medicare, since CID’s enrollment figures don’t include those plans.
Some portion of the drop may also be due to residents becoming uninsured.
The data may also not capture every type of self-insured plan, Hearst Connecticut reported last year.
The enrollment data provided in the annual CID reports include individual policies as well as those offered in the small group market (under 50 employees) and large group market (over 50 employees) plans.
Most Connecticut enrollees are in the large group market, which had about 85% of the total enrollment last year, according to CID.