Connect for Health Colorado® Sets Record Number of Healthcare Plan Selections for 2017 Coverage During Open Enrollment

February 6, 2017

Contact:
Luke Clarke, 720-496-2545
[email protected]

DENVER —  More than 175,000 Coloradans selected healthcare coverage for 2017 through the state health insurance Marketplace during the three-month open enrollment period that ended Friday, a rate 12 percent ahead of signups one year ago, according to new data released today by Connect for Health Colorado®.

“We are extremely pleased with the number of Coloradans who took the important step to protect their health — both their physical and financial health — by choosing coverage through our shopping portal,” said Connect for Health Colorado CEO Kevin Patterson.  “The steady growth we have seen in each of our open enrollment periods shows we are making valuable progress in providing affordable health insurance to a growing number of individuals and families in Colorado.”

Since November 1, Coloradans selected 175,964 medical and/or dental insurance plans (172,361 were medical plan selections) through Connect for Health Colorado. More than one in four (27 percent) of the plan selections were made by customers new to the Marketplace. The other 73 percent are renewing customers.

Sixty-two percent of Connect for Health Colorado customers this year qualify for financial assistance paying their medical premium, which will average $371 per month, per household.

Anyone whose 2016 coverage was not available for 2017 has another month — through March 1— to select health insurance for this year.

The sign up deadline was extended from Tuesday, Jan. 31, to Friday, Feb. 3, to help customers who were part of a last minute surge of plan selections. Coloradans who experience a qualifying life change event, such as marriage, divorce, having a child, losing your employer-sponsored insurance, or those moving into Colorado, have 60 days from that event to enroll in new coverage for 2017.

About Connect for Health Colorado
Connect for Health Colorado is a public, non-profit entity established in law by the Colorado General Assembly in 2011 to create a health insurance Marketplace.  It opened for business on Oct. 1, 2013, for individuals, families and small employers to compare and buy health insurance and apply for tax credits to help make their insurance more affordable. Customers can shop online; get help by phone or chat from expert Customer Service Center representatives; and find in-person assistance from certified brokers and agents, community based certified Health Coverage Guides or Certified Application Counselors. In 2016, the Marketplace enrolled more than 170,000 Coloradans in private insurance and helped more than 100,000 gain access to new tax credits that made their health coverage more affordable – all while keeping fees among the lowest in the country. For more information: www.connectforhealthco.com