Michelle L. Cook

Personal care attendants (PCAs) will have additional access to affordable health insurance after an agreement was reached to expand the application deadline for PCAs to apply for the first round of the new premium assistance benefit.

PCAs, who provide valuable services and support to more than 7,000 of Connecticut’s Medicaid consumers so they can remain in their homes and communities, may now apply for the premium benefit through April 7. The special enrollment period for coverage through Access Health CT, the state's health insurance exchange, runs until May 15. For those who do not apply for assistance by April 7, another application period will be provided later this year with payment on or around September, in time for the traditional open enrollment period on Access Health CT.
 
Connecticut is one of the first states to do this, and I encourage all PCA s who are not enrolled in health coverage to sign up for this important benefit.

Access Health CT has a special enrollment period and dedicated telephone line with navigator assistance for PCAs so that they can easily find the best health insurance option for them and obtain enrollment support. The Access Health CT navigators also screen the PCAs for eligibility for the HUSKY and Covered CT programs. 
 
PCAs will soon receive communication with instructions on how they can access this important benefit.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office.

This program is intended to make transformative investment, over a wide range of uses, that address the negative impacts caused or exacerbated by the Pandemic, while also strengthening the fabric of the community. Successful applications will address one or more of the goals of this grant program. The goals of this grant are as follows:

• Re-engage Torrington’s youth
• Increase childcare capacity
• Provide mental health support
• Support the travel and tourism industries
• Support Torrington’s creative economies
• Support workforce development or job training
• Address drug and alcohol addiction or domestic violence within the community
• Increased capacity to address human needs such as food insecurity, housing insecurity and homelessness.

Minimum grant request is $10,000. There is no cap to funding request. Larger grants may be awarded; however, average grant is anticipated to be between $25,000- $50,000. Funding is provided by the City of Torrington’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Available funding for this round is $875,000. The application deadline is April 2, 2023 at 11:59 pm. Details and applications can be found here.