January Marketplace Update: A Message from CEO Patty Fontneau

The New Year has been busy at Connect for Health Colorado. Here’s a re-cap of the month’s highlights as we close out January.

• Shopping and enrollment activity continued at a steady pace during January. In January, an additional 25,000 accounts were created and 16,000 Coloradans signed up for private health insurance coverage – for a total of over 69,000 sign-ups since the Marketplace opened on October 1, 2013. We continue to exceed our preliminary projections for coverage year 2014.
• Many carriers offering plans through our Marketplace chose to extend payment deadlines for customers who signed up for January 1 coverage, due to the extension of the sign-up deadlines in December. We have worked closely with our carrier partners to support customers through the final steps of enrollment.
• Connect for Health Colorado submitted its 2013 Annual Report to the Colorado General Assembly and Governor’s Office on January 15, as required by Senate Bill 11-200. Board Chair Gretchen Hammer and I testified to the Joint Legislative Health Committee about our 2013 activities at a January 23 meeting at the Capitol.
• The Board and the Legislative Health Benefit Exchange Implementation Review Committee approved our Operational Plan, which includes a framework for continued enhancements of the technology and customer service operations and a financial sustainability approach for future years. The financial model confirms that the Marketplace will be self-sustaining in 2015 and beyond.
• A new outreach and marketing push has begun across the state, including new television spots featuring actual customers who have saved money on their health insurance, to encourage Coloradans to get covered and not wait to the last minute. Current messaging focuses on the February 15 deadline for March 1 coverage. Open enrollment ends March 31. Enrollment events are being scheduled across the state for February and March. Please send your ideas for enrollment and outreach events to us at [email protected].

Thank you for your support and let us know how we can partner with you to support our new customers and to get more Coloradans covered. And GO BRONCOS!!

Enrollment Update: A Message from CEO Patty Fontneau

Happy Holidays! As we get closer to the New Year, we wanted to provide an update about enrollment steps and timelines. We encourage you to continue to check our Enrollment Updates web page for the latest information.

• To accommodate the last-minute rush of customers seeking January 1, 2014 coverage, we extended the deadline for completing the sign-up process to the end of today (December 27). We appreciate the additional work and commitment of our partners, carriers and Customer Service Center representatives to provide this service.

• Enrollment data is being transferred daily to carriers, so customers can check with their carriers to confirm your enrollment. It can take up to 2 business days for enrollment information to appear in the carrier’s computer systems after signing up. It can take up to 10 days for the carrier to send invoices.

• Customers who signed up between December 24 and December 27 will see a February 1, 2014 effective date for their plans in their account. The account information will be corrected next week to show the January 1, 2014 effective date for plans. The correct effective date is being sent to carriers.

• Customers need to pay their first month’s premium to carriers to finalize their coverage. The deadline for customers to submit their first month’s premium payment (for January 1 coverage) is January 10, 2014. We encourage customers to send in their payments as early as possible. Customers who access medical care after January 1 but have not paid their premium yet may need to pay for the services and then submit a claim after their payment is received.

• The next deadline for coverage is January 15, 2014. Coloradans who sign up by January 15 will get coverage on February 1, 2014. Open enrollment continues until March 31, 2014.

Thank you to all of our partners for all of your support in helping us reach our goal of increasing access, affordability and choice for Coloradans seeking health insurance. We look forward to 2014 and helping more Coloradans get covered.

Enrollment Update: A Message from CEO Patty Fontneau

Happy Holidays! We are in our final push to enroll customers who want their coverage starting January 1, 2014. It is a busy time and we are working hard, in partnership with carriers and other partners, to ensure that your coverage will be in place.

• December 23 (Monday) is the deadline for signing up for health insurance that starts January 1, 2014. We strongly encourage customers who want the advance premium tax credit to apply by tonight to allow time for processing. Those who miss the deadline can still sign up for coverage until March 31, 2014.
• Customers who have signed up for health insurance are receiving invoices from their carriers. Customers who haven’t already received invoices should receive them within the next week. Enrollment data is being transferred daily to carriers, so you can check with your carrier to confirm your enrollment.
• Customers applying for an individual/family policy have until January 10, 2014, to make their first month’s premium payment. We encourage you to pay earlier. SHOP customers should speak to their agent/broker for enrollment deadlines and assistance.
• We’ve extended hours at the Customer Service Center to accommodate more customers. Representatives are available today and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday and 7 a.m. to midnight on Monday, Dec. 23. The toll-free number is 1-855-PLANS-4-YOU (855-752-6749). Volumes remain high and we recommend that you call early in the morning or in the evening.
• We are working with our State partners to get all of our customers through the financial assistance application process in time for January 1 coverage. However, in the event that any of our customers who applied for financial assistance by December 23 don’t receive their Medicaid determination, they can purchase health insurance and pay the first month’s premium and then get the tax credit applied to the rest of 2014 payments after receiving the Medicaid denial.
• Coloradans can also purchase health insurance until December 23 without applying for financial assistance and receive the tax credit, if eligible, when they file taxes in 2015.
• The federal government announced Thursday night that customers who have received cancellation notices have more options for accessing coverage and avoiding a federal fee for not having health insurance in 2014. You can get more information about the current process for receiving an exemption here. Here in Colorado, we are working with insurance carriers and State partners to review the new information and implement any changes, if necessary, to how we help Coloradans access health insurance. We will provide more information to our customers in the coming weeks.

 

Information for Completing Enrollments for the New Year: A Message from CEO Patty Fontneau

We have entered our busiest enrollment period and are excited to report a record pace of enrollments this week as more Coloradans are coming to the Marketplace to sign up for health insurance. We exceeded 1,000 enrollments on Wednesday and Thursday and expect to stay busy for the coming weeks. Here’s information for customers to help them complete their payments and get their insurance cards for January 1, 2014 coverage.

• Customers who signed up for health insurance and haven’t already received invoices should receive invoices from carriers within the next 2 weeks. We expect to complete the transfer of all enrollment data to carriers by Monday.
• Follow-up communication about eligibility and enrollment are continuing to go to customers starting this week.
• Customers have until December 23, 2013 to complete the sign-up process for health insurance if they want January 1 coverage. Those who miss that deadline can sign up until March 31, 2014.
• The deadline for customers to submit their first month’s premium payment (for January 1 coverage) has been extended to January 10, 2014. We still encourage customers to send in their payments as early as possible. We’ll provide more details in the coming days on this process.
• The Customer Service Center is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. The toll-free number is 1-855-PLANS-4-YOU (855-752-6749).
• To accommodate more customers, the Customer Service Center will be open for the next three Sundays (December 8, 15 and 22) from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Mondays and Tuesdays are the busiest days at the Customer Service Center. Generally, the best times to call the Customer Service Center are 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• You can connect with local assistance resources in your community during our statewide Holiday Connect to Coverage Campaign. Yesterday, our RV traveled to Fort Morgan and Greeley and today we’re in Fort Collins and Loveland. You can see where we will be here.
• You can find local in-person assistance from certified Health Coverage Guides and Certified Agents/Brokers on our website or through our free Android mobile app.

We are working continuously to improve our operations and customer service. Thank you again for your support and please let us know how we can support you in getting Coloradans covered.

An Exciting Start to the Holiday Season: A Message from CEO Patty Fontneau

I wish you and your loved ones a wonderful Thanksgiving and am pleased to let you know about a number of new developments as we enter the holiday season.

• Open enrollment has been extended to December 23 for Coloradans who want their health insurance to start January 1, 2014. The full open enrollment period continues until March 31, 2014. We’re working with carriers and partners on operational plans, including deadlines for premium payments and will let you know as soon as possible.

• Our mobile app is now available for download on Android devices at Google Play. The Connect for Health Colorado app is a dynamic tool to help you consider your health insurance options. You can find in-person assistance in your community, browse plans and save your favorite on your phone or share it by email, and use our tax credit calculator to get an estimate of your potential financial help to reduce the cost of insurance. The iOs app for iPhones will be available in mid-December.

• This Sunday, December 1, five local churches will host Enrollment Sunday outreach events in partnership with our Assistance Sites to encourage Coloradans to sign up for health insurance. This is part of an ongoing partnership with religious organizations to educate Coloradans about the value of health insurance and the new options available to them. More information is available here.

• On Cyber Monday, remember to shop for health insurance while you’re shopping for gifts. Give you and your family the gift of health insurance to start the New Year off right!

• The Holiday Connect to Coverage Campaign starts December 5! We’ll be driving a 24-foot RV, wrapped with our brand, across Colorado for more than a week, with stops on the eastern plains, Greeley, Fort Collins, Loveland, Grand Junction, Durango, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Lakewood and Denver. As a key partner, King Soopers is providing the opportunity for us to conduct outreach inside grocery stores during the holiday enrollment campaign, which will include giveaways of King Soopers gift cards. Check our Tour Schedule to see when we will be in your area.

We continue to focus on maximizing coverage and welcome your partnership in those efforts. As always, please let us know how we’re doing and how we can improve our customer support. And we look forward to seeing you during our holiday enrollment campaign.

Eventful Week

It was another busy week at Connect for Health Colorado and with announcements from Washington DC. Here’s a quick recap:

• At Monday’s Board meeting, the Board discussed the financial assistance application process and the steps that are being taken with our State partners to make the process quicker for our customers. The Board also received an update about the sales strategy.

• On Wednesday, we issued a press release promoting our open enrollment outreach and marketing campaign. There has been a lot of confusion about our connection to the Got Insurance campaign that was created by two Colorado organizations. Connect for Health Colorado was not involved with that initiative.

• Also Wednesday, the federal government issued a report about enrollments at the federal marketplace and the state-based marketplaces, including Colorado. Colorado’s private health insurance enrollment figures for the period between October 1 and November 2 places us in a similar situation to the other state-based marketplaces.  We issued a joint statement about the report with our partners at Health Care Policy and Financing.

• Thursday, President Obama announced that people who received cancellation notices for individual and small group plans can keep their coverage for a year. Here is Insurance Commissioner Marguerite Salazar’s statement about this development. We will work closely with DOI, our carriers and other partners to make any necessary adjustments and to provide a quality service to Coloradans who need health insurance.

Look for new metrics early next week. We are intensifying outreach efforts during this next month as we push to maximize enrollments for the January 1, 2014 effective date. Thanks again for your support and partnership.

As we enter our second month of operations, I am pleased to report several new developments. On Monday night, we added technology to our shopping website that includes the ability for customers to apply online for premium tax credits on their own after they’ve received a Medicaid denial from the State. This technology release made an immediate positive impact on the shopping experience and pace of enrollments. We also began the process of sending real-time, industry-standard and secure customer enrollment data to carriers. The shopping experience and our support operations continue to improve each day. You can also look for improvements to the Medicaid application process by mid-December as we collaborate with our State partners toward the shared mission of getting Coloradans signed up for coverage.

We’ve also added a new feature on our website that highlights customer stories and the ways in which we have created a marketplace just for Colorado, where thousands have already signed up. We encourage you to let your communities know about these customers, including their tips for new customers. Successful enrollment stories are also surfacing in the media and with our partners, including a national NPR story that aired earlier in the week. Thousands of Coloradans have signed up for 2014 coverage and we are spreading that message in our advertising campaign, which was produced by Coloradans for Coloradans and is currently airing on television, radio, online, and through text messages and billboards.

Our metrics for October are available here and we look forward to updating you on our enrollments soon.

Working for Colorado: A Message from CEO Patty Fontneau

Today marks the end of our first month since opening Colorado’s health insurance marketplace and I am pleased to report that interest has been strong and we have been busy helping Coloradans shop for health insurance. Thousands of Coloradans are visiting our website every day to compare health plans, learn about their options, apply for financial assistance and enroll. Our Customer Service Center has seen high demand, servicing close to 30,000 phone calls to date. More than 50,000 Coloradans have created accounts with the intent to buy health insurance and more than 3,000 have signed up already. We are quickly resolving technical issues that arise and are working hard every day to improve our operations, customer service and support for our statewide network of certified health insurance agents/brokers and Health Coverage Guides who are on the front lines assisting our customers.

Following the direction set by a 2011 state law, we created a unique service for Colorado through a website and support network that is completely separate from the federal marketplace. It’s important for Coloradans to know that our Marketplace has been operating successfully and has been built specifically for our state. As one Eagle County customer who enrolled in health insurance that will cost her $132 a month with a tax credit: “It worked out great for me. Colorado really has it together.”

Here are 10 facts about how we are working for Colorado:

1. Connect for Health Colorado is a new service to help Coloradans get health insurance that has been up and running since October 1.
2. Connect for Health Colorado is built on technology and operations that are separate from the federal health insurance marketplace, healthcare.gov. There is no need for Coloradans to go to healthcare.gov. Coloradans can go to www.ConnectforHealthCO.com to shop and enroll.
3. Unlike the federal health insurance marketplace and many other state marketplaces, our customers can browse health plan features and prices and get an estimate of their potential financial assistance, based on income, without creating an account or making a commitment.
4. Among our consumer-friendly tools, we offer a way for customers to search for health plans that include their preferred doctors and medical facilities. More than 36,000 medical providers across Colorado are included in our provider directory.
5. Connect for Health Colorado is creating more competition for the benefit of Coloradans. We offer 150 health plans from 10 companies for individuals and families and 92 health plans from six companies for small businesses with up to 50 employees, plus dental plan options.
6. Coloradans can apply for financial assistance, starting with a check for Medicaid eligibility, through our website, and then see if they are eligible for a new kind of tax credit, which can save hundreds a month up-front on premiums, and other cost savings.
7. Coloradans also have the choice to quickly buy health insurance through Connect for Health Colorado without applying for financial assistance and then claim the tax credit, if eligible, when they file their taxes in 2015.
8. More than 1,300 licensed health insurance agents and brokers across the state have been trained and certified to assist and provide advice to our customers. You can find a certified agent or broker through our online search tool.
9. More than 400 Health Coverage Guides have been trained and certified to assist customers in person at Assistance Sites across the state. You can find an Assistance Site through our online search tool.
10. Our Customer Service Center in Colorado Springs is open from 7 am to 8 pm Mondays through Saturdays at 1-855-PLANS-4-YOU (855-752-6749) to provide personalized assistance over the phone or through online chat at no cost to customers.

If you haven’t started shopping, we invite you to visit our website or call our Customer Service Center. The quickest way to start looking at health plans is to click on the blue Find a Plan link in the Browse Plans box on in the middle right side of our shopping page. If you or someone you know encounters any issues, let us know and we’ll make sure to fix it. Remember that you need to be signed up by December 23 to have your coverage begin on January 1 2014.

Colorado Division of Insurance Offers Resources for Consumers

The Colorado Division of Insurance, which regulates health insurance plans in Colorado, has materials and an updated website to help consumers with buying private health insurance and addressing complaints or other issues that may arise with that coverage. The agency’s regulatory authority includes health plans that are purchased through Connect for Health Colorado. Coloradans can contact the Division of Insurance for general questions about health insurance and consumer rights and complaints. Learn more.