Connect for Health Colorado: how to enroll for 2027

Connect for Health Colorado is the state's official health insurance marketplace, and it is the only place in Colorado where you can get federal premium tax credits and Colorado Premium Assistance on an individual or family plan. Colorado does not use HealthCare.gov. Open enrollment for 2027 coverage runs November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027: enroll by December 15 for coverage that starts January 1, or between December 16 and January 15 for coverage that starts February 1 (Connect for Health Colorado, July 2026). Outside that window you need a qualifying life event. I help Brighton and Front Range families compare these plans at no cost to them, and the plan prices are the same whether you enroll alone or with me.

What Connect for Health Colorado is, and what it is not

Think of Connect for Health Colorado as a store run by the state where private insurance companies sell ACA plans side by side. Every plan in the store accepts you regardless of health history, covers the ten essential health benefits, and caps what you can spend out of pocket in a year. What changes from plan to plan is the monthly premium, the doctor and hospital network, the prescription list and how costs are split when you use care.

It is also the front door for financial help. If your household income qualifies, the marketplace applies a federal premium tax credit and, in Colorado, an extra state benefit called Colorado Premium Assistance. Neither one is available if you buy the same kind of plan directly from an insurance company.

It is not Medicaid. If your income is low enough, the same application will tell you that you qualify for Health First Colorado (Colorado's Medicaid program) or for Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) for your children, and route you there instead.

The dates that matter for 2027 coverage

Earlier in 2026, a federal rule was expected to shorten Colorado's window to December 31. Connect for Health Colorado announced in July 2026 that recent federal developments restored the traditional schedule for plan year 2027, so the dates below are the current official ones.

What is different for 2027

• Auto re-enrollment is not the same plan at the same price. Eligible returning customers are re-enrolled at the start of open enrollment, but premiums, financial help, benefits and networks can all change. Review your renewal notice line by line.
• One insurer is leaving. Connect for Health Colorado has told customers that Cigna is exiting Colorado's individual medical market, so anyone with Cigna medical coverage must choose a new plan for 2027.
• A new insurer is arriving. The Colorado Division of Insurance announced that Colorado Access joins the individual market for 2027.
• Prices are rising again. Insurers requested an average increase of 11% for 2027 in Colorado's individual market, according to the Division of Insurance's preliminary release of July 22, 2026. Those were requests, not approved rates, and your own change can be very different.
• More plans may show on screen. From plan year 2027 the marketplace may show customers who do not qualify for financial help a wider range of plans, including off-exchange options, while customers who qualify see only plans eligible for savings.

Who can use it

You can shop Connect for Health Colorado if you live in Colorado, are a U.S. citizen or lawfully present, are not in jail, and are not enrolled in Medicare. You can buy a plan even if you have a job offering coverage, but if that job coverage counts as affordable, you will not get a tax credit (see our guide to ACA tax credits in Colorado).

People who cannot use the marketplace because of immigration status may be able to buy coverage through OmniSalud on a separate platform called Colorado Connect. For 2027, OmniSalud's reduced-cost SilverEnhanced Savings plans are limited to households under 150% of the federal poverty level (for example $23,940 a year for one person), cost a $15 monthly premium contribution per enrollee, and are filled first by returning customers and then by a random lottery on December 1, 2026. Entry to the lottery is free.

The plan levels, in plain English

Plans come in metal levels that describe how you and the plan share costs, not the quality of care. Bronze has the lowest premium and the highest costs when you use care; Gold and Platinum flip that. Silver sits in the middle and is the only level that carries cost-sharing reductions for lower incomes, which can make a Silver plan behave like a Gold or better one.

The Colorado Option, explained

The Colorado Option is a set of standardized plans created by state law (House Bill 21-1232). Every insurer selling individual plans must offer them, and the Commissioner of Insurance enforces premium reductions on these plans through rate review and public hearings, according to the Division of Insurance. Because the benefit design is standardized, comparing two Colorado Option plans is closer to comparing like with like: the main differences are price and network.

The Division also requires Colorado Option plans to cover certain diabetic supplies at $0 and to list those supplies on the insurer's website. If you or someone on your policy manages diabetes, that line alone is worth checking before you choose.

How to shop it, step by step

• Gather your documents: Social Security numbers, your best estimate of 2027 household income (use the tax-return definition, not take-home pay), any job-based coverage offers, and your current plan's ID card.
• List every doctor, specialist, hospital and prescription you want to keep, with exact drug names and doses.
• Create or update your Connect for Health Colorado account and complete the application. This is where the system decides your tax credit, Colorado Premium Assistance and any cost-sharing reductions.
• Filter plans by your county and check each doctor and drug against the insurer's own directory and drug list, not only the marketplace summary.
• Compare the full year, not the premium: twelve months of premium plus the deductible and out-of-pocket maximum you could realistically hit.
• Read each finalist's Summary of Benefits and Coverage. It is the standard form that lets you compare plans on the same terms.
• Choose and pay your first month's premium on time. Coverage does not start until the first payment is made.
• Report changes to income or household during the year, so your credit stays accurate and you are not surprised at tax time.

Getting help at no cost

You can enroll on your own, with a certified assistance site (Connect for Health Colorado reported 89 organizations at 182 locations for 2027), or with a licensed broker. A broker is paid by the insurer you choose, so my help does not change your premium. What it does change is the time it takes: I ask questions about your doctors, prescriptions and budget, listen to your answers, and only then recommend plans that fit.

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The bottom line

Mark December 15, 2026 on your calendar if you want coverage on January 1, and do not let auto re-enrollment make the decision for you: 2027 brings new prices, one insurer leaving and one arriving. If you would like a second set of eyes on your renewal, send Lisa a message or call (303) 887-8584. You can also preview 2027 plans for your ZIP code with our Compare Plans tool.