Leaves are falling, there’s a chill in the air. For some of you, it’s your favorite time of year. No, not only for that pumpkin spice stuff, but rather what you’ve been working for all year – the big push to make sure Coloradans get – and stay – covered.
At the Foundation, we seek to ensure that all Coloradans achieve stable, affordable and adequate health coverage. This is our goal because we know that health insurance leads to better access to care and better access leads to better health outcomes. Not to mention, having health insurance can help protect you and your family from large and unexpected medical bills.
The Foundation just finished hosting our third Building Better Health conference, where we, along with many partner organizations, provided training to those helping people choose coverage. Every single newly insured individual requires multiple touches before gaining coverage – through messaging, outreach, eligibility and enrollment. The conference was an exciting opportunity to inspire and motivate those working on the front lines on just about every aspect of health insurance coverage: the health coverage application process, how to use the systems, marketplace plan selection and so on.
In the past few years, we’ve made significant gains in the way people choose, use and maintain their coverage. Thanks to many of you, Colorado’s overall uninsured rate has dropped to only 6.7 percent. Helping Coloradans keep coverage is incredibly important to making Colorado the healthiest state. And though we’ve come a long way, there is more work to do. We must remain persistent and unrelenting in our outreach and enrollment efforts. Let's keep Colorado covered!
Open enrollment for 2017 begins Nov. 1 for our state marketplace, Connect for Health Colorado, which marks a busy time of year for many of you working in the health coverage space. A big thanks to all of you and cheers to a successful open enrollment season!