2 BOCNEWS.com DECEMBER 2018 More Coloradans than ever are able to buy health insurance to protect their families health and family finances but there are far too many who don’t know they can get help. We need to spread the word now while they have the chance to get these protections in place for next year. Many in our community live with- out the protections that come with having health insurance because they don’t know that they could receive monthly financial help to pay for health coverage. A single person can make as much as $48,560 a year and still get help paying the monthly bill for health insurance. For a family of four the upper limit is around $100,000 a year. That help is like an 80 percent discount on the health insurance on average. This year Connect for Health Colorado customers who qualify are paying an average monthly premium of $136. That average is expected to go down next year. Connect for Health Colorado analysis shows customers who qualify for help will see the amount they pay go down an average of 24 percent if they stick with the same coverage next year. Two out of every three Connect for Health Colorado customers now receiving financial help could get coverage next year for $0 net premium. Why would you pass that up? It’s time to act. People who buy their own health insurance in Colorado can do it between November 1, 2018, and January 15, 2019. After that, it’s too late, unless you experience what’s called a “life change event,” like getting married, having a child or losing the insurance that you had through your job. Too many people take their chances, betting they won’t need health insurance but in a time when a three-day hospital stay can easily cost more than $30,000, the numbers don’t back them up. If you have health insurance, that’s great. Tell someone who doesn’t have it to check out what they can get at Connectforhealthco.com . Hundreds of thousands of Coloradans have gained protec- tion and needed health care in the five years since Connect for Health Colorado opened for business. The number of Coloradans with health insurance climbed from 86 percent to 93 percent of the population (more than 97 percent for children) in the years since the law took effect. In that time the number of per- sonal bankruptcies in Colorado tied to medical bills dropped from 104,000 per year to 45,000, accord- ing to the Colorado Health Access Survey. Nationally it was the same story. The 1.5 million personal bankruptcies in 2010, dropped to 770,000 by 2016. With the options we have avail- able now, there is just no reason to leave your family at risk. If you don’t have health insurance already, its time to go to Connectforhealthco. com to see what kind of options and what kind of help are available to you. James Coleman represents northeast Denver, District 7, in the Colorado House of Representatives. Insurance Now, Spread the Word James Coleman By James Coleman HELP Many in our community live without the protections that come with having health insurance because they don’t know that they could receive monthly financial help to pay for health coverage.