DENVER – In his State of the State address to the Colorado General Assembly, Governor Jared Polis listed the Colorado Option among “historic successes” and claimed it has been a been a “cost-saving game-changer” for Coloradans.

In reality, the Colorado Option is yet again failing to deliver the lower costs that were promised to Coloradans. Instead, premiums are going up for many consumers in the 2024 plan year and Coloradans have fewer coverage choices than before.

Despite this, the state’s Department of Insurance (DOI) has repeatedly attempted to frame the failing policy as a success story, including deliberately conflating the Colorado Option with the governor’s reinsurance program, among other misleading marketing tactics.

Here are the facts about the Colorado Option:

Higher Costs

• Health insurance premiums for Coloradans are set to rise by an average of 10% across individual market plans for the 2024 plan year.
• This double-digit increase includes the majority of Colorado Option plans.
• This substantial premium hike follows a similar double-digit increase in the cost of coverage from the 2022 to the 2023 plan years.
• As Axios reported in November: “Colorado health insurance prices to increase next year.”

Fewer Coverage Choices

• Under the Colorado Option, Coloradans have fewer coverage choices than before.
• Since the Colorado Option was implemented, four health insurance providers have withdrawn from Colorado’s individual market, small group market, or both.
• Under the Colorado option, consumers are seeing reducing competition and fewer health plans from which to choose.

As Colorado’s Health Care Future pointed out in a recent letter to DOI, “[t]he higher consumer costs and diminished competition in the state’s coverage market are underscored by the findings of an analysis performed by NovaRest, an independent actuarial firm whom COHCF engaged due to their extensive experience supporting state and federal insurance regulators. Among other findings, the actuaries at NovaRest found that the Colorado Option is not the lowest premium plan for consumers in most Colorado counties.”

The reality of higher prices and reduced competition stands in stark contrast to the promises made by supporters of the Colorado Option in passing the legislation and their continued misleading rhetoric about its consequences.