Following a Biden administration executive order designed to expand access to health care plans, Connect for Health Colorado will reopen the state’s enrollment period for government-backed insurance, the agency announced.
The new enrollment window runs from Feb. 8 through May 15. Those who sign-up will receive coverage the first day of the month following enrollment.
The extended sign-up period aims to help those who are uninsured enroll in coverage, especially for people who lost their work-based health insurance during the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said.
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Coloradans typically have a 60 day window to sign-up for health insurance in case of a life changing event such as losing a job, but now the extension on open enrollment will allow anyone who missed the deadline to sign-up, Monica Caballeros, a spokeswoman for Connect for Health Colorado said.
Re-opening the health care market place in Colorado follows President Joe Biden’s executive order to open enrollment for Affordable Care Act marketplaces in states that use the federal model.
“The state saw this as a good opportunity to piggy-back off the federal decision to extend enrollment and help Coloradans get health coverage,” Caballeros said.
During the 2021 enrollment period 180,000 Coloradans signed-up, which was a nearly an 8% increase compared to the previous year’s enrollment, the release noted.
“I am encouraged to see President Biden and his administration take action on this front, acknowledging the fact that so many remain without health insurance due to the continued impact of COVID-19,” Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway said in the release. “The Division of Insurance will work with Connect for Health Colorado to make sure this additional enrollment period works to help Coloradans get covered.”
Coloradans can sign-up for health insurance at ConnectforHealthCO.com or call 855-752-6749 to get free enrollment help from certified brokers.
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