Health insurance premiums on Colo. individual marketplace to double

The cost of purchasing health insurance on Colorado's individual marketplace is set to double next year in the absence of enhanced federal subsidies, state insurance officials announced this week.

When the open-enrollment period for Connect for Health Colorado, the state's individual marketplace under the Affordable Care Act, begins on Nov. 1, the average consumer can expect a net premium increase of 101%, according to the figures released by the state's Division of Insurance.

The vast majority of that "staggering" increase, the division said, is caused by the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits, which congressional Republicans have declined to extend. The deadlock over whether to extend the subsidies, which help millions of people afford insurance, is the primary cause of the federal government shutdown that entered its 27th day on Monday.

"These premium increases are going to create impossible decisions for families across the state," Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway said in a statement. "We have sounded the alarm bells at every turn, but Congress' refusal to act means that Coloradans will be left with unacceptably high health insurance bills during a tightening time in the economy."

About 285,000 Coloradans purchase their health coverage from one of six insurers that offer plans on the individual marketplace, established under the Affordable Care Act to serve consumers who are self-employed or otherwise don't receive insurance from their employers. State insurance officials estimate that 75,000 of those enrollees are now set be priced out of coverage and become uninsured as of Jan. 1.

Subsidies for the purchase of marketplace health plans were included in the ACA, but legislation passed under President Joe Biden in 2021 expanded the number of households that were eligible for the subsidies. The enhanced eligibility allowed more than 3.2 million people to enroll in coverage who otherwise would not have, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

"For months, Democrats have been sounding the alarm about the Republican-forced health care crisis," U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat and the ranking member on the House Health Subcommittee, said in a statement. "Costs are already too high under (President) Donald Trump, and many families will now be forced to choose between staying on their health care or buying groceries."

In a poll conducted last month, the nonpartisan health organization KFF found that more than 78% of people, including 59% of Republicans, want lawmakers to keep the enhanced credits.