STATEWIDE — Connect for Health Colorado opened for business Thursday, November 1, with rate increases lower than the state has seen in years, a streamlined application process that will save Coloradans time obtaining financial assistance and all seven health insurance companies are returning in 2019, in a sign of a stabilizing marketplace.

More than 130,000 Coloradans got help paying for health insurance in 2018. Renewing customers qualifying for financial help will see their net premium – their cost after the Advance Premium Tax Credit – go down 24 percent on average in 2019.

Connect for Health Colorado has introduced a streamlined financial help application that can take roughly half the time to complete as last year’s.

“We are committed to making enrolling in health insurance and getting financial help easier for everyone in our state who buys their own health insurance,” said Connect for Health Colorado Chief Executive Kevin Patterson. “This year that financial help was like an 80 percent discount on health insurance. Too many people assume they make too much to qualify for help.”

Analysis shows that three out of four of Coloradans who bought their health insurance with financial help through the Marketplace this year will have an option for health insurance with a net premium (after financial help) less than $50 per month in 2019.

Two out of three of the Connect for Health Colorado customers who qualify for financial help will be able to find a bronze level plan for $0 net premium. Bronze level plans are the lowest premium tier but come with higher deductibles and other out of pocket costs than silver and gold level plans.

The seven health insurance companies offering coverage through Connect for Health Colorado in 2018 are returning for 2019 with the similar number of plan offerings in each region of the state, a sign of a stabilizing market in Colorado.

Open Enrollment runs from November 1, 2018, to January 15, 2018, but consumers need to enroll by December 15 to have coverage in place by January 1, 2019.

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. For more information: ConnectforHealthCO.com