According to experts, the program is now seeing greater demand than ever before.
The Colorado health insurance program OmniSalud has opened coverage to low-income undocumented residents of the state as well as DACA recipients.
The program offers coverage at affordable rates while providing additional financial assistance.
That said, the Colorado health insurance program has a cap. This year, it took only two days for the 11,000 available plans to be filled.
“What we know is that the vast majority of folks are living here without documentation are really struggling to access health care and are primarily only accessing health care in emergency situations,” explained the program’s deputy director Adam Fox.
OmniSalud exceeded predictions for 2023 with respect to the speed at which all the available spots would be filled. According to Fox, this is a reflection of the degree of demand and need this type of program has.
“What this underscores is that this is a program that we need to continue to grow and find additional funding for because the need is very clear from the community and the desire to integrate into our health insurance and health coverage systems is really strong,” stated Fox.
While enrollment is still available in OmniSalud, the spots with financial assistance have been filled, meaning that enrollees will be required to pay their own monthly premiums. Fox explained that since only low-income people are eligible for enrollment, many people will not be able to pay the full premiums for a plan and may choose not to obtain any coverage.
This is the second year for OmniSalud’s open enrollment. It was formed after a bill passed the state Legislature in 2020. Before its creation, undocumented Colorado residents and DACA recipients in the state had very few options available to them for coverage. Moreover, many people chose not to try to buy Colorado health insurance because they were afraid that their personal information and data would be compromised by the government.
The open enrollment for this program continues until January 15, 2024. Residents who want their coverage to start at the beginning of next year should enroll by December 15. After that point, coverage will start on February 1, 2024.
