To get health insurance in Colorado, apply through Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s official insurance marketplace. One application tells you whether you qualify for free coverage through Health First Colorado (the state Medicaid program), low-cost coverage through Child Health Plan Plus, or a private plan with financial help to lower your monthly premium. You don’t need to figure out which program fits before you apply. The marketplace does that for you.
Check That You Can Use the Marketplace
Three things control access. You need a Colorado address, you need U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status, and you can’t be serving a sentence after a conviction.
Residency has no waiting period. Someone who moved to the state last week can apply today. For immigration status, qualifying categories include permanent residents, refugees, people with valid work visas, and several others; you’ll upload documents like a Green Card, Employment Authorization Document, or Arrival/Departure Record during the application.1HealthCare.gov. Immigration Documentation Types Colorado residents without qualifying status have a separate pathway called OmniSalud, covered below.
The incarceration rule is narrower than it sounds. Being convicted and serving time disqualifies you, but if you’re in jail awaiting the outcome of charges you can still enroll, and so can people on probation, parole, or house arrest.2HealthCare.gov. Health Coverage for Incarcerated People
Free and Low-Cost Programs the Application Screens For
Before you consider paying for a private plan, know that the same application checks you for public coverage.
Health First Colorado is the state’s Medicaid program. Because Colorado expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, most adults with household income at or below 138% of the federal poverty level qualify, which comes to roughly $22,000 a year for a single person in 2026.3HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines – 48 Contiguous States Coverage is essentially free, with no monthly premium for most enrollees.
Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) covers children 18 and under and pregnant people in households earning less than 260% of the federal poverty level, with minimal premiums.4Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+)
If you’re a working adult with a disability and earn too much for regular Medicaid, there’s a Buy-In program that lets you pay a sliding-scale premium to join Health First Colorado with income up to 450% of the federal poverty level.5Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. Health First Colorado Buy-In Program for Working Adults With Disabilities
If you don’t qualify for any of these, the same application calculates how much financial help you’ll get toward a private plan: premium tax credits that lower your monthly bill, and, on Silver-tier plans, cost-sharing reductions that lower what you pay when you receive care.
What to Gather Before You Start
Having your documents in hand saves real time. For every household member seeking coverage, pull together:
- Social Security numbers and dates of birth.
- Income documentation: your most recent federal tax return or W-2 forms. If those aren’t available, four weeks of recent pay stubs work.
- Your employer’s name and contact details, plus details of any job-based coverage anyone in the household already has.
- Immigration documents if applicable, such as a Green Card, Employment Authorization Document, or Arrival/Departure Record.1HealthCare.gov. Immigration Documentation Types
Pay attention to the income estimate. The marketplace uses your projected income for the coverage year, not what you earned last year, to set your tax credits. If you take advance credits and your actual income comes in higher than you estimated, you’ll owe some or all of it back at tax time; if it comes in lower, you’ll get a larger refund.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8962 If your income changes during the year, report it to the marketplace so your credit can be adjusted in real time.
One more thing to know up front: if your employer offers health insurance, you can still use the marketplace, but you generally won’t qualify for premium tax credits unless your employer’s plan is considered unaffordable under federal rules.7Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-25
Applying Through Connect for Health Colorado
The fastest route is online at connectforhealthco.com. A paper application is available from the site’s download center and can be mailed in, but online submissions are processed faster.8Connect for Health Colorado. Download Center
The online application walks you through household details, income, and immigration status, then asks for an electronic signature certifying everything is accurate.9Connect for Health Colorado. Terms of Use Review your entries before submitting. Mistyped income or Social Security numbers can delay your eligibility determination or trigger requests for more documentation.
After submission, the system checks your information against federal databases to verify income and residency. You’ll get an eligibility notice in your online account or by mail telling you whether you qualify for premium tax credits, cost-sharing reductions, Health First Colorado, or CHP+. From there you use the plan selection tool to compare monthly premiums, deductibles, and provider networks across carriers and tiers.
Plans come in four metal tiers, Bronze through Platinum, which split costs differently between you and the insurer but all cover the same ten categories of essential health benefits.10HealthCare.gov. Health Plan Categories – Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum If you qualified for cost-sharing reductions, those apply only on a Silver plan, which is often why Silver is the best value for lower-income enrollees even though its sticker premium sits in the middle. Dental plans are sold separately on the marketplace, though some health plans include pediatric dental for children under 19.11Connect for Health Colorado. How Do I Purchase Dental Coverage?
Selecting a plan is not the last step. Your coverage doesn’t begin until the insurance carrier receives your first premium payment, so contact the insurer directly after you enroll to set up payment. If you don’t pay, the enrollment is canceled.
When You Can Enroll
For plan year 2026, open enrollment ran from November 1, 2025 through January 15, 2026.12Connect for Health Colorado. Open Enrollment for Plan Year 2026 Starts Tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 1 Within that window, two cutoffs determine when coverage starts:
- Enroll by December 15 for coverage starting January 1.13Connect for Health Colorado. December 15, 2025 Is the Deadline to Enroll for Health Insurance Coverage for January 1, 2026
- Enroll between December 16 and January 15 for coverage starting February 1.14HealthCare.gov. When Can You Get Health Insurance?
Miss open enrollment and you’ll generally wait until next year, unless a qualifying life event opens a special enrollment period.
Special Enrollment Periods
Colorado law gives you 60 days from a qualifying event to enroll outside the normal window.15Connect for Health Colorado. When Can I Buy Insurance? The clock starts on the date of the event, not the day you realize you need coverage. Qualifying events include:16Justia Law. Colorado Code 10 – Section 10-16-105.7 – Health Benefit Plan Open Enrollment Periods – Special Enrollment Periods – Rules
- Losing existing coverage involuntarily through job loss, reduced hours, or the end of a prior plan (cancellations for nonpayment or fraud don’t count).
- Marriage, civil union, birth, adoption, or placement for adoption.
- Moving to Colorado from another state.
- Enrollment errors caused by the carrier, broker, or marketplace.
You’ll upload proof: a termination letter, a marriage certificate, a birth certificate, or similar. Miss the 60 days and you’re back to waiting for open enrollment.
If You Don’t Have Qualifying Immigration Status: OmniSalud
OmniSalud lets Colorado residents who can’t use the regular marketplace enroll in the same plans at full price.17Connect for Health Colorado. OmniSalud – One Way to Enroll in Affordable Health Insurance A separate benefit called SilverEnhanced Savings reduces out-of-pocket costs on Silver plans for OmniSalud enrollees below 150% of the federal poverty level, but it’s capacity-limited and allocated by lottery. For plan year 2026, only people already receiving the savings in 2025 and selected in the lottery kept the benefit; new applicants were not accepted.18Connect for Health Colorado. SilverEnhanced Savings Future years may reopen depending on funding.
Keeping Your Coverage Active
Pay your first premium directly to the insurance carrier you chose. Don’t assume a bill will arrive on its own. Confirm the payment method and deadline with the insurer promptly after selecting a plan.
If you fall behind later, Colorado law builds in grace periods. Enrollees receiving a federal subsidy get three months before the insurer can terminate coverage; enrollees paying full price without subsidies get 31 days.19Justia Law. Colorado Code 10 – Section 10-16-140 – Grace Periods – Premium Payments – Rules Don’t treat the grace period as a strategy. Once it runs out, the carrier can terminate the plan, and losing coverage for nonpayment does not open a special enrollment period for a new one.
Where to Get Free Help
Connect for Health Colorado has certified enrollment assisters throughout the state who will help you complete the application, sort out complicated household situations (such as when some family members qualify for Medicaid while others qualify for a subsidized private plan), and walk you through plan comparisons. Assisters won’t recommend a specific plan, but they’ll make sure you understand what you’re looking at. Licensed brokers are also available at no cost to you and can give plan-specific recommendations.20Connect for Health Colorado. Assisters Enter your ZIP code on the Connect for Health Colorado site to find someone near you.