Title Information
Title
Estimating the Individual Market Premium Impacts of the Colorado Option
Type of Resource (primo)
technical_reports
Abstract
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has faced several challenges, including the elimination of the individual mandate, phase-out of reinsurance programs, and insurer exits, all of which threaten the stability of the individual health insurance market. To address these issues, states like Colorado have introduced public option plans to lower premiums. This brief examines the impact of the "Colorado Option" on premiums for the lowest- and second-lowest-cost silver plans. We used 2020-2024 data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Health Insurance Exchange Public Use Files and a difference-in-differences approach to compare premium trends in Colorado with comparison states. We found that the Colorado Option was associated with a statistically-significant $101 reduction in monthly premiums per enrollee for these plans. While promising, future research should explore regional variations and broader market dynamics, including insurer behavior and enrollment patterns.
Name
Name Part
Roslyn Murray
Role
Role Term (marcrelator) (authorityURI="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators", valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut")
Author
Name
Name Part
Christopher Whaley
Role
Role Term (marcrelator) (authorityURI="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators", valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut")
Author
Origin Information
Date Created
2025
Subject (Local)
Topic
Premiums
Subject (Local)
Topic
Colorado
Genre
Policy Brief
Access Condition: use and reproduction
All rights reserved
Access Condition: rights statement (href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/")
In Copyright
Access Condition: restriction on access
All Rights Reserved
Identifier: DOI
10.26300/87w6-9e42