Approximately 436,700 people did not have health insurance in Colorado as of 2019. That’s according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). It represents 7.8% of the state’s population. For this year, KFF estimated that of the people who are still uninsured in Colorado, about 245,700 qualify for marketplace coverage.
As a reminder, marketplace coverage is the kind of insurance that complies with the rules of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Under the ACA, marketplace plans have to cover pre-existing conditions and 10 essential health benefits. They also have to offer certain other consumer protections and subsidies to make health insurance affordable.
Those subsidies, available to people with incomes of 100% to 400% of the federal poverty level, apply to most people who get marketplace plans.
In 2021, about 5% of the people who qualify for marketplace coverage in Colorado could use a subsidy to get a bronze plan for free.
Colorado has its own state-based marketplace. If you qualify for subsidies, your best bet for getting health insurance is to go through the state’s exchange at ConnectForHealthCO.com. If not, you may find a plan on the state’s exchange anyway or by using a private marketplace, like ours.
KFF calculated average lowest cost premiums in Colorado by metal type in 2021. Those lowest cost averages are $273 a month for a bronze plan, $346 for silver and $383 for gold. These averages do not include any premium subsidies that might be available.
Using data from our own marketplace, we found that a 40-year-old living in Aurora, CO, with an annual income of $37,000 a year might pay as little as $259.10 a month for a bronze plan. (This is the unsubsidized — i.e. full cost — amount.)
What you pay for coverage and the plan options available to you will depend on where you live. In 2021, there are at least 8 insurers in the Colorado marketplace. These include, among others, Anthem, Cigna, Oscar and Bright Health.
Sources
Kaiser Family Foundation, “Health Insurance Coverage of the Total Population”
Kaiser Family Foundation, “Marketplace Eligibility Among the Uninsured: Implications for a Broadened Enrollment Period and ACA Outreach” (January 27, 2021)
Kaiser Family Foundation, “Average Marketplace Premiums by Metal Tier, 2018-2021”
Kaiser Family Foundation, “Insurer Participation on the ACA Marketplaces, 2014-2021” (November 23, 2020)