“Consumers will pay more, a lot more, each month, with annual premiums rising sharply, by more than $2,700 a year in Denver”
Gabe Evans’ Big, Ugly Bill somehow just got uglier.Colorado’s Division of Insurance is warning that more than 300,000 patients across the state will see their insurance premiums “skyrocket” by an average of 28% next year. That compares to just a 5% increase this year – a telltale sign that Evans’ plan to “sharply cut federal spending on health care” and “not extend enhanced tax credits” will devastate Colorado families’ wallets.
Colorado’s Division of Insurance is predicting skyrocketing health insurance premiums next year. They’re blaming that on the Republican budget bill passed by Congress earlier this month.
The state says insurance companies are requesting massive premium increases, anaverage of 28%. This is for the individual market health insurance plans next year. [That] compares to average increases of 5% this year, 10% last year.
The state estimates the increases would impact more than 300,000 Coloradanswho don’t get insurance coverage through their work.
The state’s insurance commissioner says the biggest increases will likely be in rural areas and on the western slope. He points to the upcoming expiration of the enhanced premium tax credit, which helps middle class families pay for insurance.
Average premiums will rise 28 percent for 2026; on the Western Slope, they could climb as high as 38 percent on average, and higher than that for many.
Average statewide increases were in the single digits in recent years according to the state.
Consumers will pay more, a lot more, each month, with annual premiums rising sharply, by more than $2,700 a year in Denver and $5,100 in western and mountain regions of the state.
The budget bill passed by the Republican-led Congress this month sharply cut federal spending on health care, and it did not extend enhanced tax credits which help hundreds of thousands Coloradans to afford to pay for insurance through Connect for Health.
Louise Norris, a health policy analyst with healthinsurance.org, who is based in northern Colorado… said one of the factors driving the sharp rise is the expiration of the subsidy enhancements, because that’s going to reduce the number of people with coverage.
That will drive up costs for everyone, including those who have insurance through an employer, because they’ll be charged more to pay for those who’ve lost insurance but will still need and get care from hospitals.
The state’s hospitals said they were “deeply concerned” by the increases, which they said was driven by the expiration of the federal subsidies and “a weakened reinsurance program.”
Big changes to the size of the subsidies in 2026… could add up to tens of thousands of dollars a year for some Colorado families.
“The 28% — that is the core premium increase,” Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway said in an interview. “But it doesn’t reflect what people are actually going to feel when they lose the subsidies, too.”
Hundreds of thousands of Coloradans will see less financial help next year to buy an insurance plan. That means the federal government will save money, but it creates a ripple effect that reduces funding for Colorado programs that keep down the cost of insurance.
When healthy people leave the risk pool, it makes the remaining pool proportionally sicker with less money to go around to cover the pool’s health care costs. That, in turn, causes insurers to increase prices to make sure there’s enough money to cover everyone.
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