CCHI applauds Division of Insurances decision to phase out remaining Non-ACA compliant health plans

 

DENVER – Today, Insurance Commissioner Marguerite Salazar announced that Colorado will no longer extend ACA non-compliant plans beyond 2015. 

 

“It is important that health insurance policies provide the coverage and protections that Coloradans deserve and that are required by the ACA and state law,” said Adela Flores-Brennan, CCHI’s Executive Director. 

 

As a state, Colorado has made significant progress in establishing a competitive health insurance marketplace both inside and outside of Connect for Health Colorado. This decision is a significant step toward completing Colorado’s transition to our new health insurance market and ending market distortion. 

 

Colorado currently has insurance plans that are functioning under different rules, and this threatens to undermine transparent competition for consumers. Not extending these non-ACA compliant plans will help keep premiums affordable for Colorado consumers as a whole. In 2015, consumers in Colorado saw an average increase in premiums of just 1.18%. Allowing non-ACA compliant plans to continue could threaten Colorado’s market with greater premium rate increases for 2016 and could undermine the slow in health care cost growth. Over 140,000 Coloradans enrolled in ACA compliant plans through Connect for Health Colorado, and thousands more have enrolled directly with insurance carriers.

 

This is a common sense move to prevent insurers from gaming the system with different rules and will protect consumers with one set of standards. This will help end consumer confusion and create a level health insurance market where consumers will continue to see robust competition.