A new health insurance record

Happy midday to you, Colorado, and thanks for joining us back here at The Temperature, where today we are covering snow coverage to insurance coverage to pollution coverage. It's a lot of coverage!

Which, I suppose, is only fitting because, with the legislative session now in full swing, there's a lot to cover. But do not despair, for we at The Sun, as always, have got your back.

TOMORROW evening, at 6 p.m., our crackerjack politics team of Jesse Paul and Brian Eason are hosting a virtual — and FREE — legislative preview event. They have the governor, the leaders of both chambers, the chair of the Joint Budget Committee and a Republican representative who sits on said powerful committee all lined up to offer their thoughts on what to watch this session.

Trust me, this is not going to be a "Crossfire"-style shouting match where you learn nothing. Instead, it's going to be what we always strive to be at The Sun: Calm, thoughtful and passionate. In short, way better than watching another episode of "Hell's Kitchen." (Though the event will be over in time for you to do that if you want.)

To RSVP for the event link, just go to ColoradoSun.com/Events. Or watch ColoradoSun.com tomorrow night at 6 p.m.

OK! Let's converge on the coverage.

John Ingold

Reporter

TEMP CHECK

HEALTH

How long can Colorado's insurance sign-up boom last?

"People are seeing some prices that they're really happy about."

— Kevin Patterson, CEO of Connect for Health Colorado

Today, Jan. 15, marks the close of Colorado's health insurance open enrollment period for people who purchase coverage on their own.

But even before the checkered flag falls, the state already has something to celebrate. Colorado recorded 256,051 people who signed up for health insurance that started Jan. 1. That's more than the number of people who signed up during all of last year's open enrollment period, which itself set an all-time record. This means that the final number of sign-ups for 2025 is poised to obliterate that 1-year-old record.

Kevin Patterson, the CEO of the state's health insurance exchange, Connect for Health Colorado, said he is elated by the numbers, as he had expected to see a smaller increase this year over last.

"I think it's the affordability," Patterson said. "People are seeing some prices that they're really happy about."

Ah, yes, the affordability. And therein hangs the storm cloud over this sunny story.

Not everyone shops for coverage through Connect for Health Colorado. But the state estimates that roughly 80% of people who do are eligible for subsidies this year. And those subsidies can be quite generous — 77% of people eligible for subsidies can find a plan for under $100 a month and 62% can find a monthly premium of under $25.

What makes those great deals possible isn't just the advance premium tax credits that have been in place since the Affordable Care Act was passed. It's also the enhanced tax credits that went into effect as a result of the American Rescue Plan Act, a pandemic stimulus bill.

Those enhanced subsidies have already been extended once, when Democrats ran the show in Congress. Now the subsidies are about to expire again, at the end of 2025.

The result could be big net price jumps for people shopping for health insurance in 2026.

If, for instance, you are a 40-year-old living in Denver making $50,000 per year and buying coverage just for yourself, your premium could rise by $77 per month — to $269 from $192 for a bronze plan, according to this KFF tool. If you make less than that, your premium could increase more without the enhanced subsidies.

While some believe that Republicans will feel political heat to extend the subsidies, that's not guaranteed. And so Patterson's analysis potentially foretells another story: If affordability is driving record enrollment, what happens if that affordability decreases? We may learn the answer next year.

Section by John Ingold | Reporter

------------

CLIMATE

2024 was the warmest year on record globally. So how is Colorado's snowpack?

"It's been warming, and so now we get warm years much more frequently than has been the case in the past."

— Russ Schumacher, Colorado's state climatologist

In Durango, December was strange.

The ground was dry. Snow on trails was sparse, and the few flurries that did fall disappeared quickly.

As it turns out, southwestern Colorado wasn't alone. December was both dry and warm across much of the state, and snowfall flatlined in nearly every major river basin in Colorado for the first half of the month. Scientists reporting new climate statistics for 2024 say that, in fact, it was the third warmest December on record for Colorado, and the conclusion of the warmest year on record globally.

"It's been warming, and so now we get warm years much more frequently than has been the case in the past," said Russ Schumacher, Colorado's state climatologist.

Which raises some big questions for water watchers, namely: How is Colorado's mountain snowpack doing? And what on earth is our summer water supply going to look like?

Fortunately, some big early season storms in November — and some "Christmas miracle" storms in late December — have helped the state's snowpack stay on track with its typical accumulation of snow in the mountains by early January. Only the south-central and southwestern basins, like the Animas River Basin which includes Durango, have fallen behind their usual snowfall amounts. The southwest's snowpack as of Tuesday was 81% of its 30-year median, based on data gathered from 1991 to 2020.

There's enough winter left to go that there is plenty of time to recover. After all, the snowpack doesn't peak until April.

But there are factors working against this vital water supply for Colorado, 19 downstream states and Mexico. (Colorado, don't forget, has headwaters for rivers on both sides of the divide, including the Colorado, the Rio Grande, the Arkansas and the South Platte.)

One key water source for Colorado, the Colorado River Basin, has roughly 10% less water available today than in the 1880s because of rising temperatures. The Rocky Mountain region's peak snowpack around April 1 could shrink by 10% to 20% by mid-century.

Which brings us back to the warming.

"The air wants to take in more water," Schumacher said. "But then that also means … less frequent precipitation, but when it happens it's heavier. They talk about it in terms of whiplash."

Get a more detailed look at what's happening with Colorado's snowpack at ColoradoSun.com.

Section by Shannon Mullane | Water Reporter

------------

MORE ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH NEWS

— Colorado Division of Insurance

— The Colorado Sun

— The Colorado Sun

— The Colorado Sun

— Federal Register

CHART OF THE WEEK

If you want to find the places in the state most vulnerable to the effects of pollution or climate change, you might look to the Denver metro area or up and down the urban Front Range. And you wouldn't be wrong.

But you might also look at northwestern Colorado, or to a section of Las Animas County. Those are some of the revelations in a new map released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment that aims to visualise the hotspots in Colorado where pollution hits hardest.

The map, part of a project called EnviroScreen, was released along with a second map that shows the locations of what are known as disproportionately impacted communities — places that through demographics and socioeconomics are likely to suffer worse under the burden of pollution or climate factors like extreme heat.

CDPHE worked on the two maps with researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health and Colorado State University. The goal is to provide policymakers with tools to improve the health of all Coloradans and to see the places most at risk of being left behind.

"The new Colorado EnviroScreen marks a powerful step forward in our shared journey toward environmental justice, empowering communities and decision-makers to build a healthier, more equitable Colorado," David Rojas, a member of the project's technical review team from CSU, said in a statement.

You can dive deeper on the EnviroScreen website.

Section by John Ingold | Reporter

------------

Hey there, thanks for reading to the end of this week's newsletter. If we could memorialize how much we appreciate each and every one of you in the Federal Register, we would.

Stay warm this week as an arctic blast hits the state — remember, there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. And we'll see you back here next week after the thaw.

— John & Michael

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing [email protected].