Colorado Health Insurance

Health insurance in Colorado

● Colorado uses a state-run health insurance marketplace.

● Open enrollment for 2021 health insurance plans in Colorado will run out from November 1, 2020 to January 15, 2021.

● Legislation to create Colorado's public option ("state") was abandoned in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic; lawmakers hope to revive him in the 2021 session.

● Eight insurers offer plans through Colorado's health insurance market; three of them are expanding their coverage areas for 2021.

● Average premiums have fallen by 20% for 2020 (but net premiums have increased for many people getting subsidies), but insurers have proposed an average rate increase of 2.2% for 2021.

● Nearly 167,000 Colorado residents enrolled in 2020 coverage through Colorado's health insurance market. More than 14,000 others signed up during Colorado's COVID-19 SEP.

● Colorado finished all of its grandmother's health plans in late 2015.

● Colorado adopted the ACA's Medicaid expansion. The growth in Medicaid coverage in Colorado is the fourth highest in the nation.

● Colorado has generally been supportive of the ACA and coverage expansion, and has been a leader in pre-ACA health reform.

● There are no more short-term health insurance plans available in Colorado.

● Medicare enrollment in Colorado exceeded 938,000 in mid-2020.

● Colorado's high-risk pool was closed in 2014, once individual market plans became a guaranteed problem.

This page is dedicated to helping consumers quickly find health insurance resources in the state of Colorado. Here you will find information about the many types of health insurance coverage available. You can find the basics of Colorado's health insurance market and the next open enrollment period; a brief overview of Medicaid expansion in Colorado; a quick look at the availability of short-term health insurance in the state; statistics on state-specific Medicare rules; as well as a collection of Colorado health insurance resources for residents.

Colorado has long been a leader in health care reform

Colorado has long been a leader in health care reform. Before the ACA implemented the reform at the federal level, Colorado had already made maternity coverage mandatory in the individual market and banned gender premiums.

Colorado has become the second state in the nation to actively pursue single-payer health care, with Amendment 69 appearing on the 2016 ballot. However, voters rejected the single-payer push by a wide margin (Vermont was the first state to implement a plan to reach a single-payer, but they abandoned that path in December 2014).

Colorado has implemented a reinsurance program since 2020, joining a growing number of states that use 1332 waivers to obtain federal pass-through funding for reinsurance to reduce non-subsidized health insurance premiums and stabilize the state's individual market. Individual health insurance premiums in Colorado fell by an average of 20% in 2020, thanks to the reinsurance program (although post-subsidy premiums increased for many people receiving premium subsidies).

Colorado regulators and lawmakers were working on a public options program that the state hoped to debut in the fall of 2021, for effective coverage in 2022, but legislation to create it was abandoned amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers hope to revive him during the 2021 session.

Colorado's uninsured rate fell nearly half from 14.1% in 2013, to 7.5% in 2018, although it grew to 8% in 2019. The Colorado Health Access Survey found an even lower uninsured rate - only 6.5 percent - that remained stable from 2017 to 2019.

Colorado's health insurance marketplace

Colorado uses a state-run health insurance exchange -- Connect for Health Colorado -- which is one of only three exchanges in the nation with a permanently extended open enrollment period (November 1 to January 15).

The market is used by individuals and families who need to purchase their own health coverage, as well as by people who are eligible for income-based Medicaid or CHIP. People buy their health insurance in a variety of situations, including being an early retiree, being self-employed, or being employed by a small business that doesn't offer health benefits.

The Colorado market no longer offers health plans for small businesses, but Kaiser still has small business plans certified for sale, which employers can buy directly from Kaiser or with the help of a broker or agent.

Eight insurers participate in Colorado's health insurance market in February 2020 and will continue to do so in 2021. This is relatively robust compared to much of the country, but coverage tends to be localized and plan availability is concentrated in urban areas. In 22 of the state's 64 counties, those negotiating the state exchange have only one transportation option (Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield) in 2020.

But by 2021, three of the state insurance companies (Oscar, Cigna, and Rocky Mountain Health Plans) are expanding their coverage areas, and the number of counties with a single participating insurer will drop to ten.

Average premiums in Colorado's individual market fell by 20% by 2020, but this was before any subsidies were applied. After the subsidies, many enrollees recorded higher monthly premium costs in 2020, due to lower reference plan premiums and the resulting decrease in premium subsidy amounts. For 2021, the eight insurers proposed an overall average rate increase of just over 2%.

Open enrollment period and dates in Colorado

Colorado has implemented rules to permanently extend its annual open enrollment period to 2.5 months (November 1 to January 15).

Open enrollment for 2021 medical insurance in Colorado will run out from November 1, 2020 to January 15, 2020. This window is an opportunity for new subscribers to select coverage in the individual market (on the stock exchange or outside the exchange) and for existing subscribers to compare the options available for 2021 and renew or modify existing coverage. Subscribers must also provide up-to-date financial information to the exchange during open enrollment, in order to be eligible for financial assistance based on accurate information for next year.

Nearly 167,000 people enrolled in private plans through Colorado's health insurance market during open enrollment for 2020 coverage. This has fallen from just over 170,000 subscribers in 2019. But to address the Covid-19 crisis, Colorado has opened a special emergency enrollment period for uninsured residents. It passed through on April 30, 2020, and 14,263 residents signed up for coverage during that window.

Grand mothered health insurance plans terminated

Colorado has required all grandfather (transitional) health insurance plans to end by the end of 2015. There are still grandparents health insurance plans in Colorado, but all other individual and small-group plans now comply with the ACA.

Medicaid expansion in Colorado

Colorado is among 36 states and the District of Columbia that have expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act. The expansion of ACA Medicaid extends eligibility to most non-older adults to 138% or below the federal poverty level.

In mid-2020, total enrollment in the Medicaid and CHIP plans in Colorado was 1.3 million people, 68% more than in 2013.

Learn about Colorado's Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) programs on the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing website and learn about Colorado's Medicaid expansion in our overview.

Short-term health insurance in Colorado

As a result of the strong new state regulations that are 2019, there is no longer any short-term health insurance coverage available in Colorado. The state created a special enrollment period for people who had short-term health insurance in Colorado but lost coverage because their plan ended and they were unable to purchase another short-term plan (because insurers no longer offer short-term coverage in Colorado).

Colorado lawmakers' positions on the Affordable Care Act

In 2009, Colorado Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet – both Democrats – voted yes to the Affordable Care Act. The five members of the Colorado Democratic House also voted yes, while the other two representatives, both Republican, voted no.

The current Colorado congressional delegation includes Senators Michael Bennett (Democrat) and Cory Gardner (Republican). Bennett supports the ACA, while Gardner opposes it. As of December 2020, Colorado has seven representatives in the U.S. House: four Democrats and three Republicans. Support for the ACA is divided along party lines in the State House delegation.

At the state level, Colorado was one of the only states that moved bipartisan to establish a state-run health insurance market. Former Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat running for Senate against Cory Gardner in 2020, signed legislation authorizing the market in 2011. The state market is called Connect for Health Colorado. The state also adopted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

Colorado's High-Risk Insurance Pool

Before the ACA reformed the individual health insurance market, coverage was underwritten in nearly every state, including Colorado. People with pre-existing conditions were often unable to buy coverage in the private market or were only eligible for policies that excluded their pre-existing conditions or applied significantly higher premiums to them than the base rate.

Cover Colorado was created in 1991 to provide an alternative for people who have not been able to get full coverage in the private market due to their medical history.

One of the main reforms introduced by the ACA has been to ensure that broadcasters are covered in the individual market. An applicant's medical history is no longer an eligibility factor, meaning high-risk pools are no longer as necessary as they once were. Cover Colorado stopped subscribing to new candidates at the end of 2013 and the program ceased altogether in March 2014.

Medicare coverage and enrollment in Colorado

As of August 2020, there were 938,854 Medicare enrollees in Colorado. About 56% of them were enrolled in Original Medicare, while the other 44% enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.

Learn more about Medicare's annual open enrollment period, which Medicare beneficiaries can use to compare available Part D and Medicare Advantage plans and renew or make a change to their coverage.

Colorado Health Insurance Resources

● Colorado Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+)

● Colorado Division of Insurance - Oversees, regulates, and licenses health insurance companies that offer plans in the state, as well as brokers and agents.

● Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing — Oversees Medicaid and CHP+ in Colorado. It has also played a key role in developing the framework for the state's proposed public options plan, which is likely to be considered by lawmakers in 2021.

● Colorado.gov/Health

● Connect for Health Colorado - The state-run market where individuals and families can compare plan options, enroll in coverage, and receive financial assistance based on their family income. The market is also used for Medicaid and CHP+ 

● Colorado Senior Healthcare/Medicare resources 

(State Health Insurance Assistance Program) - A local service that provides information and assistance to Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers.

Colorado health care reform at the state level

Colorado enacted legislation in 2019 to create a reinsurance program and to spin the ball over a public option in the state, as described above. The Colorado Health Institute has an excellent overview of some of the major pieces of legislation the state passed in 2019.

The legislation that would create the public option was abandoned in 2020, however, due to the coronavirus pandemic.