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Lawmakers are pictured in the House on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. Legislators met for six days for a special session to respond to congressional Republicans’ sweeping new tax law.Robert Tann\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tLawmakers are pictured in the House on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. Legislators met for six days for a special session to respond to congressional Republicans’ sweeping new tax law.
Robert Tann\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n
Coloradans who shop for their own health care rather than receive it through their job are set to face steep price hikes next year if federal subsidies lapse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a bid to mitigate some of the price increases and potential loss of coverage, state Democrats have approved a stopgap plan that would bolster funding for programs aimed at stabilizing the insurance market.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lawmakers had been meeting since last week for a special legislative session to deal with the fallout of H.R. 1, the federal tax and spending-cut law that was a priority for congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump. The special session ended on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Priorities included finding ways to blunt the expected surge in health insurance premiums<\/a> for individuals who get their coverage through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. In Colorado, the marketplace is called Connect for Health Colorado.\u00a0<\/p>\n Insurance costs are going up due to the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credit, a Biden-era subsidy that helped lower individual marketplace premiums and extended that benefit to more people. H.R. 1 did not renew the tax credit, which is set to expire at the end of this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/p>\n Democrats on Tuesday gave final approval to House Bill 6, which would pump $110 million into the state\u2019s Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise, which funds several health insurance subsidy programs. Gov. Jared Polis is expected to sign the measure.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, said supporting those programs will be especially critical to western Colorado, which continues to see the highest health care costs<\/a> and rate of uninsurance <\/a>in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the counties I represent have the highest health insurance costs on the individual market in the country,\u201d Roberts said during a debate on the Senate floor. \u201cIt makes living in these communities \u2014 whether it\u2019s a resort community or a rural, agriculture- (or) energy-producing community \u2014 incredibly hard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Western Slope faces the highest rate increases\u00a0<\/p>\n There are around 300,000 people enrolled in Connect for Health Colorado.\u00a0<\/p>\n If the enhanced tax credits expire this year, average insurance premiums on the marketplace could increase 28% statewide and 38% on the Western Slope in 2026, according to the Colorado Division of Insurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Premium increases could be even higher, however, for people making over 400% of the federal poverty line, which in Colorado equates to $62,600 a year for an individual and $128,600 for a family of four.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s because the Biden-era tax credits, along with bolstering existing subsidies for health plans, also made people making above 400% of the federal poverty line eligible for premium tax credits for the first time. That drove record enrollment in the ACA marketplace<\/a> this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n With higher insurance premiums and a complete loss of subsidies, a family of four on the Western Slope making just over $128,000 could have to pay $25,000 more for their premium in 2026, according to the insurance division.\u00a0<\/p>\n The state\u2019s insurance division believes at least 100,000 people who get their insurance through Connect for Health Colorado could be at risk of losing coverage if the subsidies expire.\u00a0<\/p>\n Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, told reporters last week she believes Democrats\u2019 plan to boost funding for state-level subsidies could protect coverage for around 20,000 of those people, but called it \u201cnot enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n How the bill works\u00a0<\/p>\n As introduced, HB 6 would have siphoned money from the state\u2019s Unclaimed Property Trust Fund, which maintains about $1.2 billion in lost assets, such as unpaid wages, forgotten bank accounts and abandoned property.<\/p>\n But some Democrats were uneasy with relying on the property fund, and the bill was amended to find the money somewhere else.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bill now raises $100 million from the sale of tax credits to insurance companies and C corporations, selling those credits for 80 cents on the dollar. That means companies can prepay their taxes at a discounted rate \u2014\u00a080% of what they owe \u2014\u00a0through the 2033 tax year.\u00a0<\/p>\n The idea is to generate more tax revenue this fiscal year, even if the state will owe back revenue in future years.\u00a0<\/p>\n HB 6 also taps an additional $10 million in leftover COVID-19 relief money, which had previously been eyed by Gov. Jared Polis to fund a now-abandoned proposal to build a pedestrian bridge<\/a> at the Capitol building.\u00a0<\/p>\n Republicans largely opposed the bill, criticizing the tax credits as a flawed source of funding because that money would have to be paid back.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just pushing it down the road,\u201d said Sen. Marc Caitlin, R-Montrose, who voted against the measure.\u00a0<\/p>\n Caitlin\u2019s district includes rural agricultural communities and resort hubs like Aspen and Glenwood Springs. He did partner with Roberts to push through a bill that redirects $264,000 from the state\u2019s wolf reintroduction program<\/a> to the health enterprise fund \u2014 the only bipartisan-sponsored bill to pass during the special session.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Caitlin said he would\u2019ve liked to have seen a longer-term strategy for how to tackle health care costs and spending, calling the special session \u201cvery rushed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Republicans introduced bills during the special session that sought to restrict state subsidies for undocumented immigrants<\/a> and redirect that money to other affordability measures. Those bills were killed by Democrats.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pressure on Congress<\/p>\n The Democrats\u2019 bill comes with a caveat: It would not take effect if Congress extended the federal subsidies.\u00a0<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1756269249_646_VD-logo-white.png\"){kind=logo}
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House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, stands with members of the state\u2019s Democratic caucus during a news conference on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025.Robert Tann\/Vail Daily<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Roberts-Caitlin-1024x808.jpg\")
Sens. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, left, and Marc Caitlin testify on their bill to redirect some funding from the state\u2019s wolf reintroduction program during a hearing at the Colorado Capitol on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025.Robert Tann\/Vail Daily<\/p>\n