DENVER, Colo. — With health insurance premiums in Colorado projected to increase next year, state lawmakers have introduced a measure during the special session that could soften the blow for hundreds of thousands of Coloradans who buy their coverage on the individual market.
It’s a story Scripps News Denver has been following as health care advocates and policyholders call on lawmakers at the state and federal levels to address the issue.
For Chelsey Baker-Hauck, health insurance is more than paperwork; it’s survival. She’s been living with long COVID since 2020, battling heart damage, neurological problems, and a lifetime of expensive treatment. Her husband is also battling cancer.
“I wake up every day thinking about it,” said Baker-Hauck. “I go to sleep every day thinking about it.”
Colorado health insurers have proposed raising premiums by nearly 30%. The increases could be greater in rural parts of the state.
If the Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI) approves the rate increases, people signing up for health care coverage this fall will see the higher prices.
On top of that, enhanced premium federal tax credits, which lowered premium costs, are set to expire at the end of the year. Congress declined to renew the tax credits when it passed President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Act (H.R.1).
All of it means that healthcare costs for the 300,000 Coloradans who buy their insurance on the marketplace could soar by hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Baker-Hauck said such a cost increase would push her family, which is already struggling to afford health care, to the breaking point.
“My greatest fear is losing my home,” Baker-Hauck told Scripps News Denver. “We’ve already emptied our savings. We’ve already emptied my husband’s retirement fund. We’re really out of options.”
State regulators warn that as many as 100,000 Coloradans could lose their insurance.
State lawmakers have returned to the Colorado Capitol for a special legislative session to address a massive budget shortfall, as well as other issues.
A group of Democratic lawmakers is pushing a proposal that they say would reduce the number of Coloradans who would lose their insurance if the federal tax credits are allowed to expire.
State Senators Kyle Mullica and Iman Jodeh, along with State Representatives Kyle Brown and Lindsay Gilchrist, introduced HB25B-1006, which would tap up to $113 million from tax credit pre-sales and other sources.
The lawmakers say it could reduce the average increase from 28% to 20%.
“Coloradans cannot afford these insurance premium hikes, so we are doing what needs to be done to keep costs down and protect coverage,” Mullica told Scripps News Denver. “Skyrocketing premiums mean that hundreds of thousands of Coloradans will be forced to spend more of their paycheck on essential health care, and many will lose their coverage altogether. We can’t wait. We must act now to shield families from these unaffordable premium increases and keep Coloradans insured.”
The bill’s sponsors say it would also strengthen OmniSalud, a program that connects Coloradans who no longer qualify for Medicaid with affordable coverage.
The bill passed the Colorado House of Representatives on Saturday and won preliminary approval in the Colorado Senate on Monday.
Republicans said they didn’t understand why Democrats couldn’t cut excess spending in other parts of the state budget to address health care costs and are concerned the legislation will lead to bigger funding challenges next year.
State Sen. Cleave Simpson, the Republican minority leader in the Senate, agreed that losing the enhanced premium tax credits would have consequences for Coloradans. However, he voted against the bill, saying he believes Congress will come up with a solution.
Simpson said he has spoken with Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd about the issue and believes Hurd, who voted in favor of the "big, beautiful bill," is committed to finding a solution.
“I have faith in my delegation and the Congress to actually do something in the right space and scope for Coloradans and give us a hand up here,” Simpson said.
It’s unclear if there’s enough support in Congress to extend the tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year. U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican who represents Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, said she and President Trump are committed to finding creative ways to lower health care costs, but said “continuing to subsidize these unpaid-for credits will only further bankrupt our country."
Baker-Hauck is hoping for the best, but says she’ll have to find a way to pay for more expensive health insurance if lawmakers don’t act.
“I have to do it. I have no choice,” she said. “If I want to stay alive, I have to have health insurance.”
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Pueblo County Coroner's Mortuary Suspended - Bodies Found Behind "Hidden" Door Says DOLA
A funeral home operated by the Pueblo County coroner is suspended, according to documents from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). "Mr. Cotter stated that the bodies were awaiting cremation and admitted that some bodies had been in the room for approximately fifteen years," part of the DORA report reads. "Mr. Cotter admitted to inspectors that he may have issued next-of-kin fake cremains."
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