Two New Members Join Connect for Health Colorado® Board of Directors; Three Members Re-appointed to Fresh Terms

Contact: Luke Clarke 720-496-2545

DENVER – Connect for Health Colorado® Board Chair Sharon O’Hara today announced two new members have been named to the Board of Directors for the health insurance Marketplace and three board members have been reappointed to four-year terms.

Marc Reece, senior director of state government affairs, Western Region, for Aetna and Jay Norris, a northern Colorado health insurance broker, were newly named to the board.

In his role, Reece oversees all government interaction for Aetna throughout the Rocky Mountain region and Texas.  Additionally, he helps lead company transparency efforts in an effort to bring members the healthcare and coverage information they need, when they need it.  Prior to joining Aetna in 2014, Reece served as the Associate Director for the Colorado Association of Health Plans (CAHP).  While representing the insurance industry at CAHP, he helped pass Connect for Health Colorado’s enabling legislation, SB11-200, and spent four years leading industry efforts to launch the state Marketplace.

Norris is an independent health insurance broker, serving the individual market in Colorado since 2002. He and his wife Louise took their brokerage – the Colorado Health Insurance Insider – online in 2003, and for more than a decade, he has worked to make the process of shopping and enrolling for health insurance as simple and efficient as possible.

Norris has been working with Connect for Health Colorado since 2013, helping clients sort through the available options and enroll in the plans that best fit their needs.

Dr. Michael Fallon and Arnold Salazar, both of whom were appointed to Connect for Health Colorado’s original board in 2011, are concluding their service.

Three board members have been reappointed to four-year terms:

  • Adela Flores-Brennan, executive director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.
  • Steve ErkenBrack, president and chief executive officer of Rocky Mountain Health Plans.
  • Nathan Wilkes, Founder and Principal Consultant Headstorms, Inc., an IT consulting firm.

“We’re happy to welcome these new members to our board and welcome back those who have been re-appointed,” O’Hara said. “Their collective experience is deep and wide. They bring a strong strategic perspective to Connect for Health Colorado as we grow the Marketplace and increase coverage in our state for individuals, families and small businesses. We have the benefit of fresh points of view mixing with the perspective of board members who have been with us from the beginning.

“We are deeply grateful to departing board members Mike Fallon and Arnold Salazar for their dedication to improving the health of Coloradans by expanding access to affordable coverage,” O’Hara said.  “Each has worked tirelessly toward that mission, shaping Connect for Health Colorado into one of the most successful state based marketplaces in the nation.”

The Connect for Health Colorado board has nine voting members and three ex-officio members. They are appointed by Republican and Democratic leaders in the state Legislature and by the governor.

About Connect for Health Colorado

Connect for Health Colorado is a public, non-profit entity established 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 is the only place to apply for financial assistance in the form of tax credits to help lower the monthly cost of premiums. Customers can shop online; get help by phone or online chat from Customer Service Center representatives; and access free, in-person assistance from a statewide network of certified Brokers, community-based Health Coverage Guides or Application Counselors. For more information: www.connectforhealthco.com