Colorado: 132.3K QHPs thru 12/31 (70% of my target w/1 month to go)

Connect for Health Colorado just issued their official monthly enrollment update:

Connect for Health Colorado® and Colorado Medicaid Report Enrollment Gains of More Than 169,000

January 5, 2016

DENVER — Between Nov.1 and Dec. 31, more than 169,000 Coloradans enrolled in health coverage for 2016, either in private health insurance purchased through the state health insurance Marketplace or in Medicaid, or Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+), according to new data released today by Connect for Health Colorado® and the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.

“We are very happy with the enrollment growth during the first two months of this open enrollment period,” said Connect for Health Colorado® CEO Kevin Patterson. “But I want to urge everyone who does not have health insurance provided through their employer to act now to provide financial security for their families and to avoid a penalty of nearly $695 or more. The final deadline for 2016 coverage –Jan. 31 – is fast approaching.”

Since the Nov. 1 beginning of Open Enrollment 132,263 people enrolled in private health care coverage through Connect for Health Colorado®.

In addition, the coverage gains include 35,269 in Medicaid and 2,031 in CHP+.

“It’s encouraging to see such strong enrollment numbers for Connect for Health Colorado,” said Sue Birch, MBA, BSN, RN, executive director, Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. “It’s critically important for all Coloradans to apply for health insurance by January 31st for the health and well-being of themselves and their families.”

On the one hand, this is nearly 16K higher than the figure as of 12/15, which is pretty good. On the other hand, Colorado bumped out their deadline for January coverage to 12/26, but their current total is still about 12K lower than I was expecting it to be as of the end of December, or 69.6% of the 190K I've projected for the state.

At the moment, it looks like they'll end up somewhere around their own internal low-level projection (assuming 92% of the 195,237 they're projecting by next June, or 180K).

For comparison, last year around 140K Colorado residents had selected QHPs as of the end of open enrollment; this year they've hit 94% of that so far with a full month left to go.