To Our Valued Stakeholders,

We are always open to engaging with community partners throughout Colorado in a variety of ways. Part of achieving our mission to increase access, affordability and choice for individuals, families and small businesses buying health insurance is raising awareness about the help we can provide.

One of the most effective ways to do that is participating as a sponsor to some of the many events we are invited to join. We are hoping our partners, especially those outside of the metro Denver area, can help us identify opportunities that might work especially well in their communities.

We are always happy to learn of opportunities so we have added a page to our site to make it easy for anyone to let us know.

Please take a look and share it with anyone who may be interested.

In the News

You will be hearing about “silver loading” in Colorado health insurance premiums in the coming months leading up to our next Open Enrollment period. It can be a little confusing, but The Denver Post provided an explanation of the approach and how it can benefit consumers by reducing premiums.

Take care,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

Members of our legislative oversight committee commended our progress when we met on Monday to talk about improvements to our customer service, our 2018-2019 budget and the challenges that come with assisting households with a mix of people enrolled in Connect for Health Colorado financial assistance and Medicaid or CHP+.

Chief among the customer service improvement is a new eligibility system that will simplify the application process in our next Open Enrollment with a more customer-centered design. Improvements to our Quick Cost and Plan Finder tool and to call handling in our Customer Service Center are also included in the $39 million spending plan that takes effect July 1.

As of May 30, there were 1,157 Colorado households with members in both Connect for Health Colorado and Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid) programs. We assist those households through our Medical Assistance site.

You can review the meeting materials here.

In the News

On Thursday the Trump administration announced in a court filing that it would not defend challenges to the Affordable Care Act brought by 20 states. The action threatens protections for people with pre-existing conditions. While this introduces new uncertainty to the healthcare policy landscape, it will likely be some months or years before the ultimate impact is known. The Washington Post provides perspective here.

Take care,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

We will not be taking any time off this summer on development of our new eligibility system. Our work with stakeholders and technology partners to have a streamlined application in place for the next Open Enrollment Period continues full speed ahead.

We added a timeline this week to the web page on our site devoted to explaining this work and engaging our many stakeholders.

Advisory Group Opportunity

We are recruiting from the healthcare provider community for two open seats on our Board Advisory Group. Interested candidates should submit an application to [email protected].  More information can be found here.

Take care,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

We are making great progress in developing our new eligibility system. While there is a lot of work ahead, we know it will bring major improvements to the way Coloradans apply for financial help (Advance Premium Tax Credits and Cost-Sharing Reductions) to lower their health insurance costs.

The new system, first discussed in this letter in February, is generating a lot of anticipation among stakeholders. We have added a new page to our web site to answer questions, report progress and to take your comments and questions.

As a reminder, the new system will be funded, developed and maintained entirely by Connect for Health Colorado and ready for the next Open Enrollment Period. We are undertaking this work to:

• Streamline the customer experience
• Continue to meet federal compliance obligations
• Control system enhancements and to add speed and flexibility to troubleshooting

I hope you find this new resource helpful and that you will share the link with anyone who might have a question or input.

Take care,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

This year’s Legislature adjourned Wednesday after passing a couple of measures that will affect our customers and not passing three measures that we have been following aimed at easing the burden of high premiums.

What passed:

SB 136 will allow brokers to charge a fee when advising customers to buy a health plan if the broker does not receive a commission on the plan. They cannot charge a fee for enrolling people in Health First Colorado or CHP+ and they are required to notify customers in advance. The state Division of Insurance is working on related rules.

SB 132 calls for the insurance commissioner to make an actuarial analysis to determine whether expanding eligibility for catastrophic to Coloradans age 30 and above (without a hardship exemption) would reduce Advance Premium Tax Credits (APTC) for Coloradans or increase average individual health insurance premiums.

If the analysis finds such a change would do neither, the insurance commissioner would be required to seek a five-year waiver to allow the sale of catastrophic plans to all Coloradans. Such plans would remain ineligible for APTC support and would be sold through Connect for Health Colorado.

What did not pass:

HB 1205 would have provided financial assistance to Coloradans whose income is between 400% and 500% of federal poverty level and spend more than 20 percent of their household income on health insurance premiums.

HB 1392 would have created a reinsurance program to help health insurance companies with their highest cost members, allowing them to better contain increases in premium.

HB 1384 would have called for the state department of Health Care Policy and Financing and the state Division of Insurance to study three different healthcare coverage options, a Health First Colorado buy-in, a public-private partnership and a community- or regionally-based healthcare alternative.

In the News

Forbes reported more evidence of state Marketplace stabilization this week, as health insurance companies see improving profits in the individual market. Interestingly, the health insurance companies featured in the article are showing little interest in offering short-term plans.

Take care,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

Our board Executive Committee has voted to support a bill introduced this week in the state Legislature aimed at lowering premiums for buyers in the individual health insurance market through creation of a reinsurance program. The program envisioned in HB 1392 would assist health insurance companies with high cost claims to keep premium increases down.

Containing premium costs through a reinsurance program is of particular benefit to buyers who do not qualify for tax credit help and is aligned with Connect for Health Colorado’s mission to “increase access, affordability and choice” to Coloradans buying health insurance.

Learn more about the legislation.

I mentioned last week that a new law will allow brokers to charge a fee for assisting a customer in certain circumstances.

The state Division of Insurance will develop rules on implementing the law. We have posted some information on our site, and you can read the text of the bill.

In the News

Wisconsin’s governor this week submitted a 1332 waiver request to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish a reinsurance program, similar to the waiver request that is called for in HB 1392. Wisconsin officials estimate the program could reduce premiums 5 percent, according to an article in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Take care,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

Yesterday the governor signed into law a bill that will allow brokers to charge a fee when assisting a customer buying a health plan that does not include a broker commission.

Brokers have played an important role in assisting our customers throughout our history and we expect that to continue. We also continue to work to inform our customers on the full cost of their coverage and will incorporate this change in future communications.

The Division of Insurance will develop rules on implementing the law. You can read more on the legislation, including the text of the bill.

In the News

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) this week released its Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2019. We are reviewing the 523-page document, which is broad in scope.

CMS released an accompanying fact sheet along with the full text.

The Washington Post also summarized some of the highlights of the rules in its coverage.

We will keep you informed of any impact this guidance will have on our customers or our operations.

Take care,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

Please take note: We are in the process of moving our administrative offices to a new location. We will be at 4600 S. Ulster St., Suite 300, Denver, 80237 beginning Monday, April 2.

Our Board committee meetings on Monday, March 26, will be in our current location but the movers go to work as soon as those sessions adjourn. Administrative staff will be working in remote locations for the balance of the week while the move is under way.

We will provide new call-in information for the April 9 Board meeting with the agenda and support materials for the meeting. Those attending in person will want to go to the new address, which is in the Tech Center close to the I-25-I-225 interchange.

I hope to see you there.

In the News

The state Division of Insurance this week released comment on proposed federal rule changes to widen the availability of Association Health Plans (AHP). The letter to the federal Department of Labor points out concerns around the risk to consumers and the history of financial instability of such plans.

The Commonwealth Fund recently released survey results that the policy debate around the Affordable Care Act has created concern among Americans who gained coverage under the law that they may lose their health benefits. Concerning to us is the finding that three in 10 adults who have Marketplace or Medicaid coverage are pessimistic about maintaining it.

On the plus side, the Commonwealth Fund points out that Kaiser Family Foundation polling finds 54 percent of respondents have a favorable view of the Affordable Care Act, up four percentage points since January.

Take care,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

We released our End of Open Enrollment report this week, our most detailed look at the impact we are having across Colorado. This year, you will see that more of our customers are receiving help through the Advance Premium Tax Credit – 69 percent, compared to 61 percent last year – and the average level of monthly tax credit help climbed to $505 from $369 last year.

The number of users of our Quick Cost and Plan Finder tool increased more than five-fold, to 163,323, while the number of calls to our Customer Service Center dropped by one-third.

Even with a 23 percent reduction in the number of days in the enrollment period and confusion related to last year’s policy debate, our plan selections nearly equaled last year’s. Many of you receiving this message share in the credit for this success and I want to thank you and invite you to read the full report.

In the News

Predicting the future in our business is tricky but I took part in a panel this week that did it anyway. The Brookings Institution brought together a group to talk about the future of the Affordable Care Act. You can watch it or read a transcript.

And, while we’re looking forward, you might enjoy this article posted by Healthline on reasons to believe the Affordable Care Act will be with us a while.

Take care,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

We took an important step forward this week with our board’s decision to move ahead on building a new eligibility system. With our own system, we will be able to provide customer’s a better application and enrollment experience and at the same gain more control and predictability for IT expenses.

A simplified path for enrolling with financial help can be expected to help us grow enrollment while getting more Coloradans the Advance Premium Tax Credit and Cost Share Reduction benefits that they are eligible to receive. We will continue to support Health First Colorado (Medicaid) enrollments and ensure that customers are routed to the right program, whether they begin at our site or with the PEAK application.

The new system will be in place for our next Open Enrollment Period. Learn more details about our plan.

We will be providing regular updates and taking stakeholder input as we progress.

Take care,

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