MEDIA RELEASE
Thurs., Jan. 16, 2025
Colorado Healthcare Consumers to Benefit from Additional Funding, Thanks to State’s Pro-Consumer Program Savings
DENVER – Today the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative celebrates the $339 million the federal government is returning to Colorado due to the savings in health care provided by the state’s pro-consumer programs such as the Colorado Option and Reinsurance. Because Colorado health insurance costs less than it might without these programs, the federal government spends less on financial assistance to support the state’s health care consumers, so they return the funds that Colorado has saved. A study released earlier this week underscores that the Colorado Option is keeping premiums an average of $100 lower than they would be otherwise.
The $339 million that Colorado is bringing in from the federal government due to health care savings will:
  • Create lower costs for the consumers who buy their insurance through the Connect for Health marketplace, and
  • Sustain the Reinsurance Program that keeps health insurance premiums lower and more stable
“These savings and funds coming back to the state shows the Colorado Option is working,” said Adam Fox, deputy director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. “The Colorado Option is generating savings that the state will use to continue making coverage and care more affordable for Colorado families struggling with health care costs. Especially at a time when there are threats to health coverage, this funding is crucial. We need to do everything we can to meet the needs of Coloradans while protecting the ACA, Medicaid and other crucial coverage.”
This is all possible due to Colorado’s “1332 waiver,” based on section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act. States with 1332 waivers can save funds by lowering premiums and, therefore, the amount the federal government would otherwise pay to provide financial assistance through the ACA marketplaces. Colorado generates those savings and those funds are transferred to the state as a “passthrough” savings from the federal government. Colorado then puts those funds into the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise to make coverage and care more affordable for Coloradans.
Colorado’s Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise (HIAE) provides additional financial assistance for lower-income Coloradans enrolling through Connect for Health Colorado. The HIAE also provides state generated funds for financial assistance for Coloradans living without documentation These populations are a significant portion of Colorado’s remaining uninsured population. We know that these Coloradans – who are integral parts of our communities – experience health disparities at high rates, are overwhelmingly people of color, and rarely access healthcare services because they cannot afford coverage or care. Especially when hundreds of thousands of Coloradans were disenrolled from Medicaid with the end of the pandemic public health emergency, it is vital to keep as many Coloradans covered with more affordable health insurance.
Colorado Consumer Health Initiative is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, membership-based group advocating for equitable access to high-quality, affordable health care. CCHI ​​serves Coloradans whose access to health care and financial security are compromised by structural barriers, affordability, poor benefits, or unfair business practices of the health care industry.
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