Health insurance prices in Colorado set for significant increases in 2026 due to congressional inaction

The average person in Colorado who buys health insurance without help from an employer will see what they pay more than double next year, as the state released final prices before open enrollment begins next week.

The increases come as a result of the expected expiration of certain federal tax credits that help people pay their health insurance premiums — the monthly up-front costs you have to pay just to purchase an insurance plan. The expiration of those credits, combined with increases in the underlying premium prices, will result in a 101% increase in what the average person pays in 2026, the Colorado Division of Insurance announced Monday.

"These premium increases are going to create impossible decisions for families across the state," Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway said in a statement.

These price increases apply only to people who shop in the individual market, where people who don't get their insurance through an employer or a government program buy coverage. There are about 300,000 people in that category in Colorado, and the state estimates that as many as 75,000 of them may drop insurance due to the rising prices.

That could significantly increase Colorado's rate of people without insurance — which had been near record lows. But, it also could have been worse, Conway said.

Every year, insurers submit their prices for the individual market to be approved by state regulators. When insurers filed their rates this summer, they requested a 28% increase, on average.

But, during this year's special legislative session, lawmakers directed millions of dollars into state programs that try to help keep insurance affordable. As a result, the approved increase in underlying premium prices came down to about 23%.

That is still the second-largest rate increase since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. But the expiration of federal enhanced premium subsidies would supercharge that increase by reducing the financial support available at the same time prices are going up.

About 225,000 people in Colorado receive the enhanced subsidies, according to the Division of Insurance. If those subsidies — which are at the center of the fight over the federal government shutdown — expire, it would leave only the original Affordable Care Act subsidies in place.

Those original subsidies cut off for people and families making more than 400% of the federal poverty level. That means individuals earning more than $62,600 per year and families of four earning more than $128,600 per year will lose all federal support to help buy health insurance. For them, the effective increases in what they pay next year will rise into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, depending on household size and where they live.

People and families making less will continue to receive subsidies, just smaller ones.

Conway said the dramatic increases in what many people pay show that Congress should extend the enhanced subsidies.

"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," he said in a statement.

Advocacy organizations also used the news to highlight the debate over extending the subsidies. Democrats support an extension; Republicans are divided but generally say that reopening the government is a requirement for having a discussion about extending.

"It's clear why premiums are skyrocketing and why Coloradans will be shocked when they go shopping for insurance this open enrollment," Mannat Singh, the executive director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative said in a statement.