Access Health CT has chosen HealthPass and bswift to help it run the Connecticut health care exchange.
The Connecticut health care exchange system is set to launch in October, which is ahead of schedule after the U.S. Department of Labor delayed the Small Business Health Options Program until 2015. Through this health care exchange, small businesses in Connecticut will be able to choose between competing health insurance plans and employers will be able to offer plans from various insurers while only receiving one bill and making one payment.
"We are pleased that Access Health CT has chosen to work with us on this exciting and historic initiative, and we look forward to helping them provide small businesses throughout the state with affordable health insurance," Vincent Ashton, president and CEO of HealthPass, said in a statement. "We know that Access Health CT is committed to implementing the SHOP program this fall, and we will be working closely with them to ensure that Connecticut small businesses have access to the best health insurance plans for their employees and families."
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Access Health CT selected HealthPass and bswift following a four-month process. Since the 1990s, HealthPass has run small-business exchanges and now offers support for small-group insurance to approximately 30,000 members among 3,500 organizations. Typically, these are defined contribution plans. For the past 13 years, bswift has handled benefits technology for thousands of employers and also has experience with public and private exchanges nationwide.
"We look forward to bringing the complementary capabilities of HealthPass as a small-group exchange leader and bswift as a technology innovator to Access Health CT," Rich Gallun, CEO of bswift, said in the statement. "Our collective experience with private and public exchanges gives us a great head start as the fall deadline rapidly approaches. We are excited to work with the state of Connecticut to deliver solutions to their small-business community and create a successful SHOP model."
Small businesses participating in the Connecticut health care exchange system through Access Health CT may qualify for small-business tax credits.
"We understand the importance of choice and affordability to small businesses and their employees," said Kevin Counihan, CEO of Access Health CT. "We know one size doesn't always fit all and that individual employees have different needs. Our SHOP products offer broad carrier choice while allowing employers to budget and fix their costs for health insurance. We are delighted to partner with HealthPass and bswift to enable businesses with 50 or fewer employees to offer these products and experienced administrative and customer service in Connecticut."
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