Health insurance sign-ups through Colorado’s exchange on the rise

Health insurance enrollments through Colorado's exchange are outpacing last year's sign-up rate by 33 percent, mirroring a national trend of strong enrollment tallies so far in November.

Connect for Health Colorado on Thursday announced that 22,650 people signed up for medical plans from Nov. 1 through Nov. 15.

That averaged to 1,510 enrollments a day - more than the 1,132 average daily tally during the first two weeks of open enrollment in 2016.

"It's very good - it's very encouraging," said Luke Clarke, the exchange spokesman. "But I hope to keep up this pace all the way through."

Open enrollment for 2018 health insurance is here, even with much confusion

Sign-ups also are on the rise on the federal exchange, Healthcare.gov, which serves 39 states. More than 134,000 people a day signed up there through Nov. 11, tens of thousands more than during the opening weeks of 2016's open enrollment.

Still, it remains to be seen whether that translates to higher enrollment totals once the current sign-up season ends. That's because shoppers this year have far less time to sign up.

Open enrollment on the federal marketplace ends Dec. 15.

But shoppers in Colorado - which has its own exchange - have a little more time.

Coloradans still have until Dec. 15 to pick a plan, if they want coverage to begin New Year's Day.

But anyone here who misses that deadline can still purchase a 2018 plan through Jan. 12, though that coverage won't begin until Feb. 1.

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Credit: Jakob Rodgers