To Our Valued Stakeholders,
August is already almost half way through, kids are going back to school and we are now less than 90 days out from the start of our seventh Open Enrollment Period, which has been scheduled from Nov. 1, 2019 – Jan. 15, 2020.
Connect for Health Colorado Happenings
Since I last reported out to you, I visited with brokers and assisters in Cortez and Durango, had a good discussion with the Southern Mountain Ute Tribe and met with media in Glenwood Springs.
I also had the opportunity to meet with our Legislative Oversight Committee to talk about our preparation for Open Enrollment and to discuss some of our anticipated milestones in the year ahead.
This week, we also announced the addition of two board members and I’ve hired Monica VanBuskirk as our new Chief Policy and Relationships Officer. Monica will oversee our overall policy and marketing strategy. We are thrilled to have her join our Executive Team!
Healthcare News Mixed Locally and Nationally
Colorado’s reinsurance waiver has been approved by CMS. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, our first look at the preliminary individual market rates for 2020 indicated that premiums could decrease by more than 18 percent across the state if this occurred. This is an important step in the right direction of addressing our state’s affordability concerns, and another example of how Colorado continues to lead the nation in finding innovative solutions to our healthcare challenges.
On the other hand, I am concerned about the Public Charge final rule and the negative connotations for people who need to access healthcare. Connect for Health Colorado made our concerns known when the proposed rule was released last year. We are evaluating the final rule, as we believe this will increase the overall uninsured rate and have negative impacts to the health insurance market. We will be watching closely to see what happens next on the national front, and in the meantime, we are having conversations with state partners on how to move forward.
Take care,
Kevin Patterson, MURP, MPA
Chief Executive Officer
Connect for Health Colorado
