Read the reportThe Connecticut Healthcare Affordability Index (CHAI) is an interactive tool that helps measure the impact healthcare costs have on a household’s ability to afford basic needs such as housing, food, and childcare.
The CHAI has been updated to reflect 2022 data. It is intended to help consumers, policymakers, and state officials assess the impact of healthcare costs on families.
The key findings include:
- In 2022, over a quarter of working-age households in Connecticut couldn’t afford basic necessities like healthcare, housing, childcare, food, and transportation. This number is worse than in 2019 as wages have not kept up with the high cost of healthcare, housing, and childcare.
- Families with different types of health insurance had different experiences. For example, 13.8% of households with insurance through their job could not afford basic needs compared to 27.8% of households who bought insurance on the individual market, and 69.8% of households that were eligible for Medicaid.
- Fewer households had unaffordable healthcare expenses in 2022 compared to 2019. This change was not spread evenly across insurance types. Families covered by employer-sponsored health insurance saw costs rise. By contrast, those buying individual-market coverage saw lower premiums and benefited
from more assistance with their premium costs from a tax credit that was part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). That tax credit is set to expire in 2025.
Read the full report here.
Report prepared by: Lisa Manzer, director of the Center for Women’s Welfare at the University of Washington School of Social Work