Health insurance in Colorado when you don't get a subsidy

I'll be straight about Colorado, because it's genuinely different from most of the states I work in — and different in a direction that often favors the Marketplace.

The Colorado Option is a real product, not branding

Colorado requires carriers to offer Colorado Option plans — standardized designs available only through Connect for Health Colorado, the state's own marketplace. They carry $0 copays for primary care, mental health visits, diabetic supplies, and prenatal and postnatal care, before you've met a deductible.

Colorado shoppers have noticed. About half of all Colorado marketplace enrollees chose a Colorado Option plan for 2026. And starting in 2026, the Colorado Division of Insurance caps Colorado Option premium increases at the medical inflation rate — a structural brake most states don't have.

Colorado's individual market still absorbed a weighted average gross increase of more than 21% for 2026 when the enhanced credits expired. But it landed below the roughly 30% seen across healthcare.gov states, and roughly 65% of Colorado enrollees still qualify for some financial help.

Colorado has essentially no short-term market

This is the fact that surprises people. Colorado technically permits short-term policies with six-month initial terms — but insurers don't sell them here. There is effectively no short-term product to buy.

So the bridge strategy that works in Florida or Georgia simply isn't available to a Coloradan. If you're between jobs in Colorado, your realistic options are COBRA, a Marketplace plan through a special enrollment period, or a spouse's plan. I'd rather tell you that up front than have you spend two weeks looking for something that doesn't exist.

Colorado expanded Medicaid

Unlike Florida, Texas, and Georgia, Colorado expanded Medicaid, so there's no coverage gap for adults below the poverty line. Health First Colorado covers adults up to 138% of the federal poverty level. If your income is low, that's a real path here rather than a dead end.

Where the cliff sits — and when leaving the exchange makes sense

Premium tax credits still end above $63,840 for one person and $132,000 for a household of four. Above that line, Coloradans pay full price like everyone else.

Even so, Colorado is the state where I'm least likely to recommend leaving the exchange. Standardized Option designs with $0 primary care and mental health copays are hard to beat on value, the rate-cap mechanism limits future increases, and there's no short-term market to fall back on. If you're a healthy high earner who wants the lowest possible premium and a broad national network, there's still a comparison worth running — but in Colorado it's genuinely closer than elsewhere, and sometimes the exchange wins.

That's a less profitable answer for me. It's the accurate one for Colorado.

Verify me before you call

The Colorado Division of Insurance maintains a public producer lookup. My NPN is 21388659.

How this works

1. A 20-minute call. Household, income, the doctors you want to keep, the prescriptions you take. Nothing is sold on this call.
2. I price the whole market. Marketplace plans with any subsidy you qualify for, and everything available outside it, side by side.
3. I check networks and formularies before recommending anything. This is where cheap plans turn expensive.
4. You decide. I tell you what I'd choose and why — including when the answer is to stay exactly where you are.
5. I stay on the file. Claims, billing, renewals. You call me directly for as long as you hold the policy.

What it costs you

Nothing. Brokers are paid a commission by the carrier, and it's built into the premium whether you use one or not — enroll direct and the carrier simply keeps it. The plan price is identical either way. There's a fuller explanation, along with my NPN, on the licensing page.

Questions Colorado clients ask

What is the Colorado Option?

A set of standardized health plan designs that carriers must offer through Connect for Health Colorado, featuring $0 copays for primary care, mental health visits, diabetic supplies, and prenatal and postnatal care. About half of Colorado marketplace enrollees selected a Colorado Option plan for 2026, and beginning in 2026 the Division of Insurance caps Colorado Option premium increases at the medical inflation rate.

Can I buy short-term health insurance in Colorado?

In practice, no. Colorado technically permits six-month initial terms, but insurers do not offer short-term plans in the state. Coloradans between jobs generally choose between COBRA, a Marketplace plan through a special enrollment period, or a spouse's plan.

Is it worth leaving the Marketplace in Colorado if I don't get a subsidy?

Less often than in most states. The standardized Colorado Option plans offer strong value with $0 primary care and mental health copays, the state caps Option premium increases at medical inflation, and there is no short-term market as a fallback. A healthy high earner wanting the lowest premium and a broad national network may still find a better fit off-exchange, but in Colorado the comparison is genuinely close.

Licensed in Colorado and 28 other states as Rohr Health Advisors LLC. See the full list and verify the license, or start with the situation that matches yours.