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Trump administration changes to Affordable Care Act would impact Coloradans

More changes made to open enrollment
Posted at 7:29 PM, Oct 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-25 22:07:51-04

DENVER -- Another year and another frantic set of changes to health plans and insurance rates.

Connect for Health Colorado CEO Kevin Patterson said the recent Trump administration changes made to the Affordable Care Act will be felt in Colorado.

“We've had a lot of changes in the past couple of weeks so we had to make drastic changes pretty quickly,” said Patterson.

Here's what all this likely means for you:

The federal government will no longer front the bill for deductibles or co-pays. The insurance companies will have to either pick up the tab or pass the cost on to you.

Fortunately, many insurance companies may have already factored that cost into their premiums for 2018. In Colorado, expect an increase of 6 percent in your monthly premium.

But many could qualify for the state tax credit, meaning insurance premiums could drop by 20 percent.

Another big change is this year's open enrollment deadline. Instead of the November 1 through the January 31 deadline, the federal government moved to the deadline to December 15.

“We didn't think that was enough time. We wanted to make sure people got through the end of the year,” said Patterson. 

And because Colorado’s health insurance is state run, Patterson said they could push the deadline to January 12. 

For more information on open enrollment in Colorado click here.