Last week, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order that re-opens enrollment of the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. While the order pertains to states that use the federal exchange (healthcare.gov), Colorado’s exchange (Connect for Health Colorado) will mirror the order by also re-opening enrollment. In fact, Coloradans without health insurance will be able to enroll in coverage through ConnectforHealthCO.com between Feb. 8 – May 15, 2021. This special enrollment period is for people who are without health insurance and begins a week earlier than the federal exchange.
Re-opening the exchanges is an effort to help uninsured Coloradans connect to affordable coverage – especially those who have lost their jobs during this economic downturn. Given the work we have done with stakeholders to accomplish this shared goal, we want to maximize this special open enrollment opportunity to connect Coloradans who are eligible to our safety net programs, as well.In that spirit, concurrent to this special enrollment period, we would appreciate your communication out to your network of contacts about this special open enrollment period, as well as our Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid program) and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) coverage programs. Due to COVID-19, our county partners have asked that communications refer applicants to our PEAK online tools. As you know, we have created a variety of materials you can use for outreach on our Here for You, Colorado website, including this helpful enrollment tool (also available in Spanish). Income eligibility information can be found here, as well.