The end of August was more than the first day of school for most students and teachers. It was the annual CT Insurance Department (CID) public forum on rate increase requests by health insurance companies - the chance for insurance executives, state and elected officials and the public to weigh in on the rate hikes being requested by health insurance companies as they rake in billions in profits.
This year - again - insurance companies complained about being required to provide care for medical conditions - while failing to mention the billions they spend on in profits, executive pay, stock buybacks and lobbying, outlined in a recent CCAG report.
But this year is unique in the scope of the health affordability and coverage crisis facing us. Due to the federal bill passed last July, at least 110,000 people will lose HUSKY D coverage and 50,000 people will lose Access Health Coverage.
Many legally present immigrants will also lose coverage, and further, federal inaction is resulting in thousands of people being only able to afford coverage that is inadequate, leaving them to pay thousands out of pocket or avoid medical care altogether.
The CID is accepting comments until a decision is announced.
In 2025, the state approved an average increase of 16.8% for individual health plans and 11% for small group policies.
“2026 is the first time in my life that I have not had health insurance,” said Deb Dauphinais owner of Bicycles East in Glastonbury. “I simply cannot afford it. I haven’t been able to afford it for years, but this year, I finally said enough and took the gamble.
“Ironically, I’ve had the best medical treatment this year than in the past decade, and I’m over $10,000 ahead,” she continued. “I’ve paid out of pocket which I still would have done had I had insurance, because the only thing I’ve had for over a decade is a lousy plan with a $6500 deductible.
“In past years, I lived with injury and illness untreated because, after paying the outrageous premiums, and having an obscene deductible, I had nothing left to pay for actual medical care – which is a huge win for the health insurance company. If I get a severe illness or injury, well, I’ll just be collateral damage, because they are not in business for their customers.”
After testifying last year, learning that CID granted double-digit rate increases felt like a gut punch, Dauphanais said.
Rep. Tom Delnicki, R-South Windsor, urged the CID to consider profits and other expenditures, citing Elevance’s profits exceeding $1.8 billion for the first quarter.
“This strikes me as one of the components that goes into a rate hike,” Delnicky said. “The overhead of a company establishes the base and takes a look at what the actuaries portray.”
Delnicky read off billions of dollars spent on lobbying, CEO compensation, stock buybacks and profits. “These are huge numbers. At what point do we take all these aspects into account? …It’s important to take an overview of those companies.’’
Several speakers cited information contained in CCAG’s recent report mentioning vertical integration and self-dealing and warned of catastrophic impacts on our healthcare systems as more and more people cannot afford insurance and go without coverage.
CCAG and others urged the CID to demand transparency, including the actual cost of care, which is currently not publicly available. Year after year, they come asking for more and more - without ever disclosing the actual cost of care, or how their self-dealing is allowing them to evade consumer protections.
“The Affordable Care Act mandates a certain level of spending on medical claims,” CCAG Associate Director Liz Dupont-Diehl testified. “But insurance companies have figured out that they can meet that requirement by paying drug middlemen, they have bought those middlemen – and are now paying themselves.”
The report reveals that just five health insurance companies - four of whom killed a public option in 2021 with a threatening letter to Governor Lamont - spent $38.7 million on federal lobbying in 2025; $170 million on CEO compensation; and $12 billion buying back shares of their own stock, which is a way to inflate stock prices and reward insiders and already wealthy shareholders. Those companies could have opted instead to invest in employee wages or benefits, lower rates for consumers, or research.
Vertical integration, the report shows, is reducing the quality and availability of care, and making insurance more expensive for employers and consumers alike, limiting healthcare provider autonomy, and reducing wages, as workers are paid less in response.
UnitedHealth Group, which is seeking rate increases averaging 18.9%, is now the fourth largest company in the world, employing 10% of all doctors nationwide, including ProHealth Physicians in Connecticut.
CCAG and our members are calling on the CID to reject these increases and to demand information about the actual cost of care, and transparency and accountability around this self-dealing.
Click the button below to send your letter to CID and tell them they must reject these latest rate hikes!