2025 Health Insurance Enrollment Window Approaching: Know Your Options

Hi, I'm Eric Eicher, employee, owner, and president of Alpine Bank Durango. At Alpine Bank, we believe in the power of community and connecting you with the resources you need to work, live, and play in our community. I hope you enjoy this edition of "Community Insights."

Open enrollment for health insurance in Colorado is almost here. The open enrollment window for 2025 coverage is from November 1st through January 15th. Navigating the options can be overwhelming, but La Plata County's Public Health Department offers Insurance Literacy Program to help guide individuals to the best coverage.

The Health Insurance Literacy program at La Plata County Health provides free and unbiased assistance in finding affordable health coverage. So whether that's through Medicaid or Connect for Health Colorado, we try to find you affordable health insurance, and understand your coverage as well.

Connect for Health Colorado serves as the state's official health insurance marketplace where residents can shop for, compare, and enroll in different health insurance plans. Colorado Connect serves a similar purpose, but is specifically designed for undocumented residents. It provides tailored insurance options such as OmniSalud, which offers affordable health coverage for undocumented individuals in mixed status households. OmniSalud is designed to fill the gap in health coverage for people who cannot access federal health insurance programs like Medicaid or Medicare, or the tax credits available through Connect for Health Colorado.

Connect for Health Colorado is where you apply for tax credits to help lower your monthly costs for health insurance, and that's where you can shop for health insurance as well. And then Colorado Connect is like the sister site, the sister for Coloradans who are undocumented, for them to access health insurance, and also where you can access the OmniSalud program as well.

Eligibility requirements for Connect for Health Colorado include being a Colorado resident and filing taxes. For Colorado Connect, applicants must be Colorado residents. To get coverage through either program, individuals must enroll during the open enrollment period.

Open enrollment is your opportunity every year, to enroll for the next year's plan. So it's November 1st through January 15th of every year for Connect For Health Colorado and Colorado Connect. In order for your health insurance to start January 1st, 2025, you have to apply before December 15th. And then if you do apply, you know, December 16th through January 15th, your coverage will start February 1st. Normally, to get health insurance, you have to apply during open enrollment or during a life-changing event. So this is a really great opportunity to take advantage of getting health insurance for 2025.

It is important not to miss the open enrollment window as missing it may result in being without health insurance for the year. Current members of the OmniSalud Program through Colorado Connect can re-enroll for 2025 starting November 1st through November 22nd, 2024. New members can begin enrolling on Monday, November 25th, 2024, at 8:00 AM, until spots are filled. There have been significant changes in this year's open enrollment period compared to last, especially regarding DACA recipients.

DACA recipients are now eligible to receive tax credits and apply on Connect for Health Colorado, and/or depending on your income, you could also access Medicaid, which is really great, and that will change a lot of things for our mixed eligibility households. So, you know, another big change that has happened is in 2025, if you're pregnant and you're a child who are an undocumented Colorado resident, you can access Medicaid now, so children will finally be covered, which is really, really awesome.

For more information, contact the La Plata County Public Health Department at 970-764-7426, or hilp@lpcgov.org. We're proud to present "Community Insights" powered by the Local News Network, and sponsored by Alpine Bank. With "Community Insights," our mission is to foster a stronger and more connected community to La Plata County and beyond. For more information about this and other stories, visit durangolocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of "Community Insights." I'm Sadie Smith.