CONNECTICUT — A new health insurance subsidy for early childhood educators in Connecticut will become available in 2027. The Early Childhood Education Endowment advisory board approved the use of $10 million from the endowment fund to create the insurance subsidy.

The subsidy is established under the 2025 state law that created the Early Childhood Education Endowment. In 2025, the state dedicated $300 million for the endowment. The state deposited over $411 million into the fund from the fiscal year 2026 surplus.

At least 7,200 early childhood educators in Connecticut are eligible for the subsidy. An estimated 5,600 of the 31,000 early care and education workers in the state are currently uninsured. Workers who do not qualify for Medicaid or the free Covered Connecticut insurance program are eligible for the subsidy.

Open enrollment for the subsidy begins in October 2027. The subsidy will be provided to workers who purchase qualified health plans through Access Health CT. Participants may receive the 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 amount ranges from $1,000 to $1,200 depending on the worker's income relative to the Federal Poverty Level. Workers earning between 250% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Level will receive a $1,100 subsidy. Connecticut State Representative Kate Farrar said educators were often forgoing health care that they needed just to keep taking care of the kids in their care.