Colorado Health Insurance Rates Are Going Up Again in 2027. Here's What's Actually Happening.

If you buy your own health insurance in Colorado, you probably already know 2026 was rough. The bad news is that 2027 brings another increase. The better news is that it's a much smaller one, and there are some real moves you can make to soften it.

The number

Colorado carriers have asked the Division of Insurance for an average increase of about 11% on individual market plans for 2027. Independent analysis of the filings puts the weighted average closer to 13%. Either way, these are requested rates, not approved ones — the state reviews every filing and often negotiates them down before anything is final.

The range underneath that average is wide, and that's the part worth paying attention to. Kaiser filed for 10.2%. Anthem filed for 10.3%. SelectHealth came in at 15%. Denver Health asked for 18.3%. Rocky Mountain HMO filed the highest at 23.9%, which lands hardest on the Western Slope and mountain communities that already pay the most in the state.

So "11%" is an average, not a prediction of your bill. Depending on your carrier and where you live, you could see half that or double it depending on which carrier you are with.

Cigna is leaving

The bigger story for a lot of people isn't the percentage. It's that Cigna is exiting the individual marketplace in Colorado for 2027, along with pulling out of ACA exchanges nationally. That leaves roughly 41,000 Coloradans needing to pick a new plan, whether they wanted to shop or not.

If you're one of them, you'll get a notice, and the exchange will try to auto-match you into something similar. Do not let that happen without looking at it. An auto-match is a guess based on plan type, not on your doctors, your prescriptions, or your budget. It's a starting point, not a recommendation.

There's a new name on the list too — Colorado Access is entering the individual market for 2027, which is a rare bit of good news in a year when carriers have mostly been leaving.

Why this keeps happening

The short answer is that Congress let the enhanced premium tax credits expire at the end of 2025.

Those enhanced credits had been in place since 2021, and they were the reason so many people were paying $50 or $0 a month for coverage. When they went away, the subsidy formula reverted to the original ACA version meaning smaller credits, and a hard cutoff at 400% of the federal poverty level that had been suspended for four years. Colorado regulators projected that the average net premium in the state would roughly double as a result.

That did two things. It raised what people actually pay, and it pushed healthier people out of the market. When healthy enrollees drop coverage because it got too expensive, the remaining pool is sicker on average, and carriers price for that the following year. Full-price premiums in Colorado jumped 21.2% for 2026. The 11% for 2027 is carriers continuing to adjust to a smaller, more expensive risk pool.

Enrollment tells the same story. Colorado had 277,238 people in marketplace plans for 2026, and effectuated enrollment was down 8.4% by June.

What Colorado is doing about it

More than most states, honestly.

Colorado converted its state assistance from cost-sharing help into direct premium subsidies — $80 a month for the primary applicant plus $29 for each additional family member, for households up to 400% of the federal poverty level. That's on top of any federal credit, and it's why the average Coloradan with a subsidy paid around $131 a month in 2026 instead of $187.

The state also runs a reinsurance program that holds full-price premiums down statewide, though its funding was reduced starting in 2026. And the Colorado Option plans, which are rate-regulated and generally priced below the rest of the market, were popular enough that about half of all marketplace enrollees chose one.

None of that makes the increase disappear. It does mean Colorado's increase is running below the national average, which was not true in a lot of states this year.

What to actually do

Shop your plan this open enrollment. Not "consider shopping." Actually do it. With carriers filing anywhere from 10% to 24%, the plan that was cheapest for you last year may not be close this year, and staying put out of inertia is the single most expensive habit in this market.

Update your income estimate before you renew. Your subsidy is calculated from projected income, and if yours changed at all, the number the exchange has on file is wrong. Too high and you're overpaying every month. Too low and you'll owe it back at tax time.

Check whether you qualify for the state subsidy. A lot of people don't know it exists, and it's applied automatically only if your application is complete and current.

And if you're on Cigna, start early. You have to move regardless, and the plans with the doctors you want will be the ones that fill up your decision list fastest.

One last thing

Rate filings are not final rates. The Division of Insurance reviews all of them, and approved numbers usually land lower than requested. Final rates and plan designs get published ahead of open enrollment, which is when it's worth doing a real comparison rather than reacting to a headline percentage.

If you'd rather not sort through it alone, that's what we're here for. There's no cost to have someone walk your options with you, and the plan prices are identical whether you use a broker or not.

If you are on Cigna and need to discuss getting a new health plan for 2027 please reach out and visit our quote page