Many early childhood educators in Connecticut will soon be eligible for help from the state to pay for health insurance.
A group that oversees the state's Early Childhood Education Endowment recently approved using $10 million from the fund to create a new insurance subsidy.
Under the 2025 state law establishing the fund, Connecticut set aside millions in state surplus dollars to address the child care crisis by expanding and investing in the sector. State Rep. Kate Farrar, one of the chairs of the advisory group, said making health insurance affordable is part of the puzzle.
“We would often hear about educators themselves forgoing health care that they needed just to keep taking care of the kids in their care,” said Farrar, a Democrat who represents parts of West Hartford and Newington.
The subsidy was included in the 2025 law. Farrar said the aid is intended to help keep educators on the job and draw more people to the profession.
At least 7,200 early childhood educators would be eligible, according to a study published in April by Access Health CT. The same data shows that an estimated 5,600 of the 31,000 early care and education workers in Connecticut are currently uninsured.
State Sen. Ceci Maher, another board chair, and Democrat from Wilton, said the subsidy is important because child care workers are regularly exposed to illness.
Slice of a big investment
In 2025, the state dedicated $300 million for the endowment, and last month deposited over $411 million into the fund from the fiscal year 2026 surplus.
Goals for the endowment include increasing provider pay and adding child care spaces. Lawmakers also plan to make preschool through the Early Start CT program free for families earning up to $100,000 a year, and to charge a sliding scale of no more than 7% of family income for those making over $100,000.
The new health insurance subsidy will be available in 2027 and provided to workers who buy qualified health plans through Access Health CT, the state's insurance marketplace.
Workers who don't qualify for Medicaid or the free Covered Connecticut insurance program are eligible. Participants will receive a subsidy toward individual plans, small employer group plans or plans funded in part by an employer through an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement.
The subsidy ranges from $1,000 to $1,200 depending on income: $1,200 for workers earning between 175% and 250% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL); $1,100 for those making between 250% and 400% FPL; and $1,000 for anyone earning over 400%.
Open enrollment begins Oct. 23 through Access Health CT.
Elena Trueworthy, commissioner of the Office of Early Childhood, said the insurance subsidy is pivotal to the state's plan to support workers.
“They are instrumental in really building a system that we want to see in the future,” Trueworthy said.
