CEO Blog: Our Impact

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

I want to recommend you take a moment to read our End of Open Enrollment Report, which we posted earlier this week. As the most extensive report of our results we make each year, the End of Open Enrollment Report documents the impact our work is having throughout the state.  You’ll see that households who receive financial assistance are receiving $369 a month on average to help keep their premiums affordable.

Customers made more than 178,000 plan selections through Connect for Health Colorado during the four-month period covered in the report. Growth continued to be strong in rural counties as well as large suburban counties like Adams, Douglas and Jefferson, where enrollments grew by 10 percent or more. We are grateful for the hard work of our Brokers, Health Coverage Guides, Certified Application Counselors and stakeholders that produce these results.

Legislative Update

The state House Appropriations Committee on Thursday passed HB17-1235, the measure that would provide financial assistance to some Coloradans with income falling between 400% and 500% of the federal poverty level. It’s headed next to the House floor.

This bill would give us the opportunity to help folks in areas with the state’s highest health insurance premiums and we have a team laying the groundwork, should the measure become law.

In Recent News

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Thursday finalized its market stabilization rules. We provided our formal comment on the rules in March.

Standard & Poors put out a timely and encouraging analysis of individual health insurance markets, as our carrier partners prepare their 2018 plans and premiums. The report found reason to believe the market is stabilizing. As this New York Times article put it,  the insurers reviewed by S&P reduced their losses in 2016, will likely break even in 2017 and can expect profits in 2018.

Take care,

Kevin

Kevin Patterson, MURP, MPA
Chief Executive Officer
Connect for Health Colorado