Availability of short-term health insurance in Connecticut

Connecticut has very strict rules for short-term health insurance. As a result, the Connecticut Insurance Department has confirmed that there are no short-term plans for sale in Connecticut.

There are other types of non-ACA-compliant coverage available, including fixed indemnity plans and health care sharing ministry plans.¹

As of October 2, 2018, the Trump administration relaxed the rules in terms of the allowable duration of short-term health insurance plans. But states can continue to impose more strict restrictions, and Connecticut does. As a result of the state’s regulations, including a new essential health benefits coverage requirement that took effect in 2019,² no insurers were offering short-term plans in the state as of 2019. That continues to be the case in 2024.

Before the new federal rules took effect, Connecticut’s Insurance Commissioner, Katharine Wade, noted that “Connecticut already has the necessary statutory consumer protections in place to prohibit ‘junk plans’.”

After the Trump administration’s regulations for short-term plans were finalized, the Connecticut Insurance Department issued an information statement (Bulletin HC-121) to clarify the rules for short-term health insurance in Connecticut, which remained in effect after the federal rules were relaxed.

In 2024, the Biden administration finalized new rules for short-term health plans. Short-term plans issued or sold on or after September 1, 2024 will be limited to total durations of no more than four months, including renewals.

But again, there are no short-term policies for sale in Connecticut, so the new rules won’t change anything about consumer access to these plans in Connecticut.

Although there are no short-term medical plans for sale in Connecticut, the state does have laws in place to govern these plans if an insurer chooses to offer them.

Short-term health insurance in Connecticut cannot have a plan duration over six months, and cannot be renewable. (As noted above, federal rules will limit the terms of short-term health insurance to three months, starting with policies issued in September 2024.)

Connecticut’s general statute 38a-476 requires health insurance plans to cover pre-existing conditions, unless the plan is “a short-term health insurance policy issued on a nonrenewable basis for six months or less.”

Short-term coverage virtually always excludes pre-existing conditions,³ so short-term plan duration in Connecticut is effectively limited to six months in duration. And it’s noteworthy that Connecticut’s law only allows them to exclude pre-existing conditions for which the patient received medical treatment/advice during the 24 months before the policy effective date.

As of January 2019, short-term health insurance in Connecticut was required to cover essential health benefits (EHBs), under a new state law² that requires coverage on individual and small group plans and does not exclude short-term policies.⁴

In most states, short-term plans do not include coverage for all of the essential health benefits — maternity, prescription drug, and mental health coverage are most likely to be lacking.³

So it was not surprising that as of 2019, there were no longer any short-term plans for sale in Connecticut. Avoiding coverage for some of the essential health benefits is one of the ways that short-term plans keep their costs down, and a state-level requirement to cover essential health benefits generally makes the market unattractive to short-term insurers.

Consumers in Connecticut can buy ACA-compliant health insurance through the state’s marketplace, Access Health CT.  Three carriers offer coverage through the exchange in 2024, and all three will continue to offer coverage in 2025.⁵ 

ACA-compliant plans are purchased on a month-to-month basis, so you can enroll in coverage even for only a few months until another policy takes effect — and if you’re eligible, you may qualify for financial assistance in the form of a premium subsidy.

Connecticut residents may also be eligible for Medicaid (HUSKY) coverage, which is available year-round. Residents who are eligible for the Covered Connecticut program can also enroll year-round.