The Family and Medical Leave Insurance Division (FAMLI) is partnering with the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) to share this important message with Colorado Employers.

Take Action Now to Connect Your Employees to Your Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Coverage

During the COVID-induced economic downturn, hundreds of thousands of Coloradans lost their jobs and with them, their employer-sponsored health insurance. In total, more than 500,000 Coloradans turned to Medicaid (Health First Colorado) and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (Child Health Plan Plus or CHP+) for health insurance coverage during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Fortunately, those Coloradans were able to keep that coverage throughout the public health emergency once enrolled. With the end of the public health emergency, Colorado — like all states — has been required to disenroll individuals from Medicaid and CHP+ coverage at their renewal anniversary, if they no longer qualify. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Coloradans have been disenrolled from these safety net coverage programs over the last year because their incomes are too high to qualify at their renewal. This may include some of your employees, which is why we need your intervention and help. 

Employers, please help Coloradans disenrolling from Medicaid get enrolled in your employer-sponsored health insurance. Health care providers and consumer advocates are reporting an increase in uninsured individuals, and this is indeed a reflection of the fact that Coloradans disenrolling from Medicaid and CHP+ have not connected to employer-sponsored coverage, which traditionally covers about 50% of Coloradans. Perhaps some Coloradans missed their employer-sponsored enrollment window because they realized that they lost Medicaid coverage after the limited enrollment period offered by their employer. Perhaps disenrolling Medicaid members didn’t have the support they needed to enroll in their employer-sponsored coverage because about 80% of the Coloradans disenrolling from Medicaid did so off-cycle from their employer’s open enrollment period. Whatever the reason, we need your help. People without coverage often delay necessary care, don’t treat their chronic conditions as they should, or don’t get the preventive care they should. All these incidents result in condition exacerbation, to the detriment of employee health and long-term employer health care costs. Further, individuals who do not have health insurance are at risk of medical debt and even medical bankruptcy. That’s why we need your help and your active intervention!  

To address this reality to the betterment of your organization and your employees, employers should visit KeepCOCovered.com and leverage the toolkit that includes downloadable resources. Please proactively communicate health coverage options as soon as possible to your employees so they know how to enroll in your coverage or find other options; please also expand the period of time you allow your employees to enroll after a qualifying event — given that about 21 million Americans are moving from Medicaid to another form of coverage through this public health emergency “unwind” period. 

Below are several steps employers can take to assist employees in getting covered:

• Remind all your employees about health coverage options that you provide as their employer, and how to apply. Losing Medicaid coverage is a qualifying event to enroll in employer-sponsored coverage outside the normal enrollment period. 
• Extend your special enrollment period (SEP) from 60 days to 1 year, per the federal government’s letter to employers, plan sponsors and issuers to give employees the time needed as they disenroll from Medicaid to enroll in your employer-sponsored health coverage.
• If you do not offer employee benefit coverage, your employees may qualify for reduced-cost health insurance coverage through Connect for Health Colorado. Losing coverage is a “qualifying event,” which means they can apply for health insurance through Connect for Health Colorado during the extended special enrollment period.
• Refer affected employees to colorado.gov/health to learn more about other health coverage options. 

Thank you for doing your part to keep Coloradans — and your employees — covered.