Colorado: @C4HCO reports over 212K #ACA exchange enrollees for 2021, up 32K from OEP total

I'm gonna be posting mea culpas for a few days for missing important ACA-related announcements over the past few weeks.

Most of this press release is no longer relevant as the 2021 "No Excuse Needed" Special Enrollment Period is over now, but there's one important data point which is worth noting:

Last Call for Coloradans to Sign Up for 2021 Health Coverage

• After August 15th, you’ll need a qualifying event to enroll

DENVER — Coloradans have until Sunday, August 15th to sign up and save on health coverage through Connect for Health Colorado. Thanks to a new federal law, more Coloradans are eligible to save than ever before. But this is the last chance for people to enroll in a plan that provides coverage this year unless they experience a Qualifying Life Event.

More people have enrolled in Colorado’s health insurance marketplace than any other year since Connect for Health Colorado opened for business in 2013. As of Sunday, August 8th, more than 212,000 Coloradans have signed up for a plan that provides coverage this year. That’s an additional 6,000 enrollments since last month when Connect for Health Colorado announced its Marketplace was seeing more than 1,000 new sign ups each week.

The official 2021 Open Enrollment Period total for Colorado was 179,661 selecting Qualified Health Plans (QHPs). I don't know if the 212,000 figure above takes into account net attrition since the 2021 OEP ended or not, but if not that means roughly 32,000 additional Coloradoans signed up between Feb. 8th - August 8th. Presumably another thousand or so signed up in the final week of the Special Enrollment Period which ended yesterday.

They also include some other important reminders and one key tidbit for the upcoming 2022 OEP:

Individuals who have received any weekly unemployment benefits beginning in 2021 may qualify for plans with premiums starting at $0 per month. This additional financial assistance is only available for 2021 coverage.

After August 15th, you can enroll or change your plan only if you experience a Qualifying Life Event, like getting married, having a baby or losing your job’s health insurance.

Our annual Open Enrollment Period for 2022 coverage begins November 1st and will go through January 15th.

This matches the new federal OEP time window, which is longer than it was during the Trump Administration but shorter than it was during the Obama Administration.