To Our Valued Stakeholders,

As the leaves are turning, the Connect for Health Colorado staff has officially turned all of our attention to prepare for the eighth Open Enrollment Period.

Yesterday, the Colorado Division of Insurance released the offerings for 2021 health insurance plans.

I offered my take on the rates: I am encouraged by the overall stability we’re seeing for next year’s health insurance plan prices. While Reinsurance is helping keep rates low for many, we want to remind customers that the average financial help amount for enrollees who qualify will decrease as well.

I also urge Coloradans who are unsure about their options to connect with us this Open Enrollment period. So, it’s important that customers work with you all, their assisters and brokers, to review plans for their needs, as always.

Plans will be available for our customers to start reviewing in our Quick Cost and Plan Finder tool shortly, and Open Enrollment begins Nov. 1.

CoverCo Wrap Up

What an inspiring week! As with many things in 2020, we had to make changes to our annual CoverCo conference. Our staff put together three days of strong programming virtually for more than 630 people who participated from across the state. It was nice to “see” many of your faces throughout the sessions.

I had the honor of kicking off the conference each morning, but Wednesday’s session with Dr. Portia Jackson Preston was a personal highlight. She reminded us of the importance of taking care of ourselves, especially as we get into our busiest time of the year. I took a step back to think about my personal self-care habits and am evaluating how I keep myself healthy and well during these times.

Dr. Jackson Preston also took the time to sit down for an interview and offered these reminders.  

Thank you for taking care of yourselves, and for all the work you are about to embark on to keep Coloradans covered.

Take care,

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

We are just one month from the start of our eighth Open Enrollment Period, which opens on Nov. 1. I’m proud of what my staff is accomplishing behind the scenes, especially on the technology front.

Our enterprise modernization efforts have been underway for nearly the past two years. As a reminder, we created our own eligibility system, updated our www.ConnectforHealthCO.com website, launched a new training system, and now we are implementing enhancements that will help our customers shop more easily.

The recent rollout of our enterprise modernization project gives us more ability to make our own enhancement and design decisions in the future, with real-time deployment, as well as set our systems up to be adaptable to future needs. Our technology team has put in a great deal of effort and these steps are the building blocks for everything we want to do in the future to streamline the enrollment process.

And as we keep rolling into October, next week is a busy one. I am honored to speak on a panel at the HealthCare 2020 Summit, which focuses on health care transformation as it relates to access and equity. And, I hope to see many of you virtually at our CoverCo conference. It’s not too late to register if you do want to join us. 

Be well,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

It’s hard to believe that it is technically still summer with the weather we’ve had this week. Seems like 2020 will keep throwing us curve balls!

But, as the temperatures may be changing outside, that means one thing for us: Open Enrollment planning is heating up.

Every year, we set aside time to gather with our brokers, assisters, community partners, county staff, advocacy organizations and other stakeholders to exchange ideas, get up to speed on any training and resources we all need for the Open Enrollment Period and network with each other.

Last year, we took this conference on the road, and this year, we are taking it to a virtual space. The CoverCO 2020 conference is scheduled for Oct. 6-8. Join us to reconnect, engage in community discussions and exchange ideas to improve the health and well-being of Coloradans. This year’s keynote speaker is Portia Jackson Preston, and she will speak about the culture of self-care and resiliency in the work we do. Register now if you plan to join us.  

Thank you for your support in getting ready for another Open Enrollment Period.

Hope you all stay healthy and well!

Be well,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,
One of Connect for Health Colorado’s strategic goals is to advocate to improve access to coverage in rural areas of Colorado. Generally, every year around this time, I hit the road and visit many rural communities around the state to hear updates from communities and share insights about the upcoming Open Enrollment Period.

This year, the challenges of face-to-face visits are leading me to have these conversations virtually. I’m thankful for the opportunity to still “see” our partners, community leaders and local policy makers outside of Denver. Last week, I spoke with the Western & Rural Colorado Health Care Coalition, and in the next few weeks, I will be presenting to the Mountain Family Health Centers Board and leadership, the Mesa County Health Leadership Consortium, Colorado Healthcare Strategy & Management, and other groups.

Through these presentations and conversations, I am sharing my thoughts about the role of Connect for Health during and after the pandemic, how we’re partnering with state agencies to reach people who’ve lost their job and need coverage, and setting the stage for the upcoming Open Enrollment Period, which is quickly approaching!

On the National Front
I also spoke at a conference hosted by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) to share how we’re proactively engaged in our state’s response to health policy and finding innovative ways to reach new customers. You can watch the panel here.

Hope you all stay healthy and well!

Be well,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

We’re just about three months from the next Open Enrollment Period, and this week, the Division of Insurance released preliminary rate filings for the 2021 Plan Year. I made a statement that I am encouraged by the stability that these preliminary health insurance plan prices suggest we will see next year.

Behind the scenes, Connect for Health Colorado staff are diving into our preparations for Open Enrollment. We’ve posted two new Request for Proposals – one for our media buying services and one for staffing vendors for staff augmentation – and have a few staff positions open. Thank you for passing these opportunities on to interested and qualified parties.

Congratulations to Our New Chief Human Resources and Training Officer

I’m also pleased to share the news that I’ve added another member to the C-level of our organization. Nyle Boyd has been promoted to the executive leadership team as the Chief Human Resources and Training Officer. I thank Nyle for her years of tremendous service to this organization, and appreciate her stepping into this new role.

Be well,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

The heat of summer is upon us — I hope you are finding ways to stay cool while staying healthy.

This week, I visited (virtually) with Club 20 members and was thrilled to share recent news from the Division of Insurance that more Coloradans will have a choice in insurance companies during this Open Enrollment Period, as the state has decreased the number of counties with only one issuer from 22 to 10. This is an improvement in choice for many of Colorado’s rural communities.

Getting the word out about Special Enrollment Periods

We know that job loss in Colorado is at an all-time high and with that comes loss of job-based health insurance. To help get the word out about getting covered through Connect for Health Colorado, our Marketing team created an online Job Loss Toolkit for you to use. The toolkit includes electronic versions of a short flyer, our overview brochure (both in English and Spanish), our financial help chart, social media images and copy, and a 10 minute video about health insurance options after job loss. I’d ask that you share the link with your networks as you see fit.

Be well,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

As summer sets in and the heat is rising, I’ve taken a step back to reflect on the how we’ve been forwarding our mission in a new remote world.

We’ve supported the community by sponsoring remote events, such as Denver Pride’s Virtual 5k. Our Assistance Network Team recently completed 17 virtual site visits, with an eye toward how we plan for a more remote Open Enrollment come November. Our Policy Team remained actively involved during the condensed end to our legislative session, which included online submission of our testimony in support of two bills that ultimately passed.

Our staff is spending time considering what the rest of the year’s event itinerary might look like, including how we will run the CoverCo conference and my annual visits across the state. We will update you as these events get closer, and as we develop creative ways to accomplish our work with you remotely.

New Laws Will Forward Our Mission

As I’ve mentioned in my last few posts, we are thrilled that Colorado continues to innovate on solutions to provide Coloradans access to affordable health coverage. I shared my thoughts on two bills that Governor Polis signed into law this week.

We’ve already begun internal conversations on implementation for these two new laws, and we look forward to collaborating with several partners in the weeks and months to come. On that note, our Board of Directors has opened the application process for the Easy Enrollment committee. Please share this application with those who are interested and qualified.

Stay healthy and well, Kevin Patterson, MURP, MPA
Chief Executive Officer
Connect for Health Colorado

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

Colorado policymakers wrapped up an active and unprecedented legislative session earlier this week. Since the session was interrupted because of the COVID-19 outbreak, most of the policy work these last three weeks was focused on the state budget and bills related to the current crisis.

However, Connect for Health Colorado had the opportunity to be involved in two bills that will forward our mission to provide access, affordability and choice for Coloradans purchasing health insurance.

I shared with you previously that House Bill 1236, known as “Easy Enrollment,” will allow Coloradans to mark on their state tax return that they are uninsured and opt-in for their information to be shared with Connect for Health Colorado, so we can see if they qualify for financial help or Health First Colorado (Medicaid).

On the last day of the session on Monday, Senate Bill 215, the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise, also passed. The bill protects and expands financial help for health coverage, which is in line with our mission to increase access, affordability and choice. I released a statement about what this means for Coloradans, and how we will be involved in removing barriers to access for Coloradans.

The Affordability Enterprise will:

• Fund the reinsurance program.
• Provide financial help to people whose net premium would increase as the individual market price for insurance decreases.
• Set up a fund to provide financial help to people who do not otherwise qualify under Affordable Care Act rules (e.g. households who are not qualified because of the “family glitch”).

We will work with several partners to advise on implementation of both bills.

I’m thrilled that through these unique times, Colorado continues to be an innovator and national leader at finding solutions to our health care needs.

Stay healthy and well,

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

To Our Valued Stakeholders,

Colorado lawmakers went back to work this week. Who knew that we would be talking about the current legislative session in late May? But as you know, the COVID 19 outbreak has changed many things this year.

One bill that our Board of Directors took a support stance on earlier this year has passed its second reading on the Senate floor. House Bill 1236, known as “Easy Enrollment,” would allow Coloradans to mark on their state tax return that they are uninsured and opt-in for their information to be shared with Connect for Health Colorado, so we can see if they qualify for financial help or Health First Colorado (Medicaid). The goal of this bill is to reduce the number of Coloradans who are uninsured, particularly those eligible for financial help. Easy Enrollment would make it easier for Coloradans who have lost employer-sponsored insurance to connect to coverage options on our Marketplace.

We will continue to monitor any health policy bills that could affect our mission.

Helping those who have recently lost job coverage

Thank you for your continued help getting out the message to the many Coloradans who have recently lost their employer health coverage that we are here to help. Most of these folks likely qualify for a Special Enrollment Period and there may be quite a few Coloradans coming to us for the first time. As a reminder, we have certified enrollment experts who are taking virtual appointments and can help get them enrolled.

Stay healthy and well,

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