Despite a relatively low number of people buying coverage in its first week, the board in charge of Colorado’s health insurance exchange is generally pleased with how it’s running.
Connect for Health Colorado, which is branding itself as C4HCO, says it had 162,941 unique visitors to its website October 1-7. Of those, 226 purchased health coverage for themselves and dependents, totaling 305 covered lives.
Connect for Health has set a goal of signing up 136,000 in the health law’s first open enrollment period ending March 31, 2014. The Colorado Health Institute estimates that829,000 of Colorado’s 5 million residents are uninsured, 243,000 of whom will be eligible for Affordable Care Act subsidies to help them afford coverage starting next year.
Another 160,000 of the uninsured will be eligible for Medicaid, according to a state estimate.
The small number of buyers “doesn’t come as a surprise,” says C4HCO CEO Patty Fontneau. Buying health insurance “is a complicated process and people have months to be able to go through and figure out what works best for them, and we’re encouraging them to do so.” . . .