Source: Denver Business Journal
About a third of Coloradans who get their health insurance through the state exchange will need to shop for new insurance next year following moves by two major carriers to end some of their coverage.
The Colorado Division of Insurance said Wednesday that Anthem and Rocky Mountain HMO will withdraw coverage or plans from multiple areas of the state, including parts of the Denver-metro area — a move affecting about 96,000 people who were enrolled.
It’s another sign of issues looming in the industry due to the expiration of federal assistance for low-income people who enroll in health insurance through public exchanges, said Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway.
Federal tax credits established through the Affordable Care Act are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, and U.S. lawmakers have not taken action to renew the credits. Without help from the federal government, Conway indicated that many insurers will find it too expensive to continue offering the same coverage they have in the past.
“I don’t know how we can ring alarm bells any louder,” Conway said in a statement. “We need our elected leaders at the General Assembly and federal level to help. We will do everything possible to stabilize the market, but without that assistance, hardworking people are going to receive devastatingly high rate increases and more than a hundred thousand people will lose coverage as a result.”
Anthem’s HMO Colorado will discontinue 21 plans and withdraw 41 plans from certain counties, ending coverage for 70,000 members — about two-thirds of its current total enrollment, the DOI said. Rocky Mountain HMO will withdraw 20 plans from certain counties, affecting 26,000 people. The impacted Colorado counties for both carriers include major metropolitan areas such as Denver, Douglas, Adams, Arapahoe and Broomfield.
A total of about 300,000 Coloradans get their insurance through individual market plans on the exchange, according to the DOI.
In July, carriers told the DOI they plan to substantially raise premiums for individual plans on the exchange for 2026. Their rates are proposed to rise an average of 28%, compared to a 5.6% jump in 2025.
In 2024, 2023 and 2022, rates increased by a respective 9.7%, 10.4% and 1.1%, the DOI said.
Conway called the rate increase proposals “alarming” at the time. He and a handful of local politicians called on Congress to act to restore the federal enhanced tax credits.
A recent analysis by nonprofit health care organizations, the Peterson Center on Healthcare and KFF, found that most insurers are proposing rates that are 4% higher for next year, because the federal tax credits are unlikely to be renewed. Without an extension of the tax credits, subsidized health care enrollees could be paying up to 75% more for their premiums, the report predicted.
Health insurance has also grown more costly in recent years because rates have begun to catch up with inflation, according to health care industry experts in Colorado. Multiyear contract renegotiations between carriers and providers and increased utilization, especially for behavioral health care benefits, have also driven up premiums.
“There is still an opportunity for Congress to act and extend the enhanced premium tax credits,” the DOI said in a news release that announced the plan withdrawals. “There is also an opportunity for the Colorado General Assembly to pass legislation in the special session starting tomorrow to provide funding to the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise, which helps keep costs down for individual market plans.”
