Connect for Health Colorado Updates - enrollment period extensions

• “Even with fewer customers able to auto-renew for 2016, our enrollment numbers – 116,394–  are ahead of where they were last year – 113,415 – after the Dec. 15 deadline for January coverage. We are excited by the number of new customers – 34% of enrollments. We put out a press release Wednesday and gave more detail to our board in a presentation Thursday.
• Colorado HealthOp and Access Health Colorado customers, along with some customers of Rocky Mountain Health Plans, have been granted an extension of the enrollment period, also known as a “Special Enrollment” period, allowing more time to enroll for coverage effective Jan. 1. Customers now have until Dec. 31 to enroll for Jan. 1, 2016 insurance. In addition, customers of Rocky Mountain Health Plans that no longer have access to plans in their area from this carrier, also are eligible for this enrollment extension.
• Connect for Health Colorado has announced a second extension – to midnight Saturday, Dec. 26 – of the deadline to enroll in health insurance coverage beginning Jan. 1, after seeing a large volume of last minute enrollments and a heavy snowstorm on the original deadline. That means Coloradans can still get coverage for all of 2016 if they act now. The Customer Service Center will be open from 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, from 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. Thursday (Christmas Eve), closed Friday for Christmas and open from 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 26.
• Surprising findings in a new study on the cost of healthcare come from a look at Colorado. The study, reported in the New York Times, challenges the assumption that areas where Medicare costs are low also have low costs for private health plans. The opposite is true in many areas, including Grand Junction. Denver stands out as one of the few areas where both Medicare and private healthcare costs are moderate, according to the Times.” [Source: Connect for Health Colorado]