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Increase would have been much higher without Colorado Democrats special session legislation which preserved coverage for nearly 30,000 Coloradans
DENVER, CO – Representative Katie Stewart today released the following statement after the Division of Insurance announced that 2026 health care premium rates will increase by at least 101-percent in Colorado due to Congress’s failure to continue the enhanced premium tax credits.
“Congress’s refusal to continue cost-saving health care tax credits is hiking health care premiums in Southwest Colorado and other rural communities that already struggle with access to care,” said Rep. Katie Stewart, D-Durango. “Because of our action in the special session, these premiums are over 37 percent lower than they otherwise would be on the Western Slope and nearly 30,000 Coloradans across the state will be able to keep their health care coverage. Despite our best efforts, inaction by Republicans in Congress will still increase Southwestern Coloradans’ health care costs by thousands of dollars and threaten to put rural health care providers out of business.”
Statewide health care rates for individuals who purchase their own insurance are expected to increase by 101-percent due to Congressional Republicans’ failure to extend the tax credits. Open enrollment begins this Saturday, and Coloradans who want coverage in 2026 must choose their plan before December 15. If Congressional Republicans don’t act now, a family that lives in southwest Colorado, on the Western Slope, in the San Luis Valley or on the Eastern Plains, will see their health insurance premiums increase by $16,000-$21,000.
Democrats have repeatedly urged Congress to extend the tax credits, which help make health care more affordable for around 225,000 Coloradans. In August, Rep. Stewart signed onto a letter to Colorado’s congressional delegation urging them to extend the enhanced premium tax credits that were intentionally omitted from the GOP’s H.R. 1.
The expiration of these tax credits on December 31 will lead to fewer people having health insurance and higher health insurance costs for everyone, including small businesses and Coloradans with employer-sponsored health insurance. If Congress extended the enhanced premium tax credits, the average premium increase would be 16-percent, instead of 101-percent, and some Coloradans would see no increase.
Colorado Democrats have significantly lowered health care costs with the state’s reinsurance program, which has saved consumers over $2 billion, and Colorado Option health care plan, which offered the lowest or second lowest cost plan in every county on the Western Slope in 2025. A recent study by Brown University found that the Colorado Option reduced monthly premiums by $101, even for non-Colorado Option plans. On the Western Slope, a Colorado family of four who chose the Colorado Option plan in 2025 saved over $9,600.
Earlier this year, the Colorado General Assembly returned to the Capitol to combat some of the harm caused by Trump’s Megabill and Congress’s failure to extend the ePTCs. Colorado Democrats passed a law that will invest in Colorado’s reinsurance program and blunt some of the most severe cost increases from the expiring tax credits. This law reduces the statewide average premium increase from 174-percent to 101-percent, saving Coloradans $220 million on health care next year and preventing 28,000 Coloradans from being kicked off their health coverage. By stabilizing Colorado’s reinsurance program, premiums are 37-percent less on the Western Slope. On the Western Slope, the average 40 year old individual saved nearly $15,000 from the reinsurance program, and since 2020, a family of four has saved nearly $56,000 from the Reinsurance Program.