Why Your Health Insurance Still Shows a One Dollar Charge, Even When Your Subsidy Covers Everything
Every open enrollment season in Colorado, people run into the same confusing moment. You plug in your income, the subsidy covers your entire premium, and you think you’re about to get completely free health insurance. Then the plan page pops up and shows a price of one dollar per person per month. It feels like the system is glitching or trying to sneak in a fee.
The truth is less sneaky and more about how federal law works behind the scenes. So let’s talk about it in plain English.
Where the one dollar actually comes from
Under federal law, specifically the Affordable Care Act, federal money cannot be used to pay for most abortion services. The only exceptions are cases involving rape, incest or a serious threat to the pregnant person’s life. Because of that rule, any health plan on the marketplace that covers abortion has to create a separate pot of money. The government requires insurers to estimate the cost of that coverage and collect at least one dollar per person per month into that separate pot.
That one dollar cannot be paid by federal subsidies. Even if the subsidy covers the full price of the rest of the plan, this dollar has to sit on its own.
Years ago that created all kinds of headaches. People would get strange bills, partial invoices or notices that their subsidy did not cover the entire amount. Colorado finally stepped in and said, we can make this easier. Today, the state uses its own funds to take care of that separate charge for anyone whose plan is fully covered by subsidies.
So why do I still see the dollar?
Because it is still a real line item. Carriers are required to show it, and the marketplace has to display it. Think of it like a label on a package that must legally stay there even when someone else is covering the cost behind the scenes. You are not being charged the dollar out of pocket. It just has to appear on your plan so the carrier can stay compliant with federal rules.
Colorado’s broader approach
Colorado has made a very clear choice to support abortion access. Voters approved a constitutional amendment to protect that right, the state now allows public funds to cover abortion for Medicaid members, and private insurers must cover abortion without cost sharing. Handling this odd one dollar requirement on behalf of residents fits into that larger picture. The state is removing barriers and trying to keep the process simple, even when the federal rules are complicated.
