Colorado Approves 2027 ACA Premiums Rising About 10% in the Individual Market and 14% in Small Group, With the State Reinsurance Program Cutting Premiums 17.1%

Colorado's Division of Insurance has announced the final premium changes for health plans sold in the state for 2027. The details below come from the Division's press release of September 22, 2026. The release is an official government statement and it includes political characterizations by officials, which this article attributes to them. It does not give enrollment figures or a total count of insurers, and it does not mention any insurer leaving the market, so this article does not address those points.

Individual market

For people who buy their own coverage, the release says premiums for 2027 rise by about 10% on average, compared with a national median increase of 15%. The increase varies by rating area, the geographic zones Colorado uses to set prices. The range runs from 5.9% in Area 8 to 15.5% in Area 5. The release gives the others as 12% in Area 1, 9.7% in Area 2, 10.8% in Area 3, 9.5% in Area 4, 10% in Area 6, 10.4% in Area 7 and 11.8% in Area 9. Taking the simple average of those nine figures, a calculation made here and not reported, gives about 10.6%, which is close to the 10% headline, though the statewide average is weighted by enrollment and the simple average is not.

Small group market

For small employers, the average increase is about 14%. By rating area it ranges from 9.9% in Area 8 to 15.2% in Area 1. The release lists Area 2 at 14.9%, Area 3 at 14.6%, Area 4 at 10.8%, Area 5 at 12.7%, Area 6 at 11.4%, Area 7 at 15% and Area 9 at 14.6%. Small group increases are therefore higher than individual-market increases in most of the state.

The state's tools

The Division says its rate review process saved consumers $42,136,281, meaning that the rates it approved were lower than those insurers first filed. A more important lever is the state reinsurance program. The release says it is projected to save Coloradans nearly $470 million in premiums for the coming plan year and that statewide it reduces premiums by 17.1%. Reinsurance in this context is a state-run arrangement that reimburses insurers for a share of high-cost claims, which lets them charge lower premiums. The release says Senate Bill 26-178 funds both the reinsurance program and Colorado Premium Assistance, a state subsidy.

With the state assistance, the release estimates that financially assisted customers will see a net increase of about $20 a month from 2026 to 2027. Without it, the increase would average $69 a month. The difference of $49 a month is a subtraction done here and not stated in the release. The release does not say how many customers receive the assistance or what income limits apply.

Why premiums are rising

The release attributes part of the increase to Congress's decision not to extend the federal enhanced premium tax credits last year. It says that expiry roughly doubled average premiums for hundreds of thousands of Coloradans in the individual market for 2026. Governor Jared Polis is quoted as saying Colorado is stepping up to save people money while Congress has not acted, and Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway is quoted as saying Congress still needs to restore the subsidies Americans relied on. Those are the officials' statements and reflect their positions. The release also says that Colorado's drop in enrollment this year is smaller than in many other states, but it gives no numbers, so that claim cannot be assessed here.

How this relates to earlier figures

A Division consumer advisory, titled in part Average Premium Increases of Over 28% for 2026, reported much larger increases for the 2026 plan year; the headline of that advisory was seen but the document was not reviewed in full. That 28% figure refers to 2026, not 2027. Anyone comparing the two should keep in mind that 2027 increases of about 10% apply on top of the 2026 level. A simple illustration, calculated here: if a premium rose 28% in 2026 and 10% in 2027, the combined effect would be about 41% over two years (1.28 times 1.10 is 1.408). That is an arithmetic example and not a figure from the release, and actual changes vary by plan and area.

A new carrier and the calendar

The release says Colorado Access is entering the individual market as a new carrier, which adds a choice for consumers in a market where some insurers have been leaving elsewhere in the country. It does not give the total number of carriers. Open enrollment began on November 1, 2026. People who want to change plans should compare options during the enrollment period.

What the release leaves out

It gives no enrollment totals, no count of insurers, no list of plans and no detail on how Colorado Premium Assistance is funded beyond naming the law. It also does not state which insurers requested which increases or by how much the Division reduced them, beyond the total savings figure.

Limits

This article summarizes a state press release that includes statements by elected and appointed officials. Rates and subsidies vary by individual circumstances. It is general information, not insurance advice.