You know you don’t really need a broker. A broker doesn’t cost you anything, but you can DIY it pretty easy. Here’s how:
You like Kaiser? The plan you picked is Kaiser Select, which is Kaiser, but smaller and cheaper, and your doctor doesn’t take that. They take the full Kaiser network, called KP, and the smaller network is KP Select. They might take Select Health, which isn’t the same as UCHealth because UCHealth isn’t insurance, it’s a hospital system like Denver Health, which has insurance called Elevate.
But Select Health has UCHealth. Anthem Pathway has UCHealth too, unless it’s Anthem Pathway Essentials, which does not. Pathway Essentials is different. Not as big. But it’s probably the one you’ll end up with, unless you absolutely need UCHealth or you live outside the Denver area.
Your doctor said they take Cigna? But is it Cigna Connect? That’s not the same as Connect for Health Colorado or Colorado Connect. Connect for Health Colorado is the marketplace. Cigna Connect is a Cigna network sold on the marketplace.
Unless you buy it directly from Cigna to avoid Silver Loading, which comes from unfunded CSRs. You don’t qualify for CSR, but you do qualify for APTC, so now we’re narrowing it down to Cigna Connect on Connect for Health Colorado, but you shouldn’t get the Silver plan because of Silver Loading.
But it looks like you created your account on Colorado Connect instead of Connect for Health Colorado, and that’s a problem because it’s a completely different part of the same exchange.
And the Cigna Connect HSA Bronze plan you wanted isn’t available on Colorado Connect. You can’t get APTC on Colorado Connect, that’s OmniSalud. But the Cigna Connect Flex Bronze and Cigna Connect Colorado Option plans are HSA-qualified for 2026 even though the actual Bronze HSA plan still exists. All the Bronze are HSA qualified, but the Denver Health Elevate HSA has a lower MOOP. That’s good. But it doesn’t have copays. It only has 50% coinsurance, but that’s not a big deal because the deductible is $6,950 and the MOOP is $7,100.
The Colorado Option is on both Connect for Health Colorado and Colorado Connect. Every carrier has to offer one. Kaiser Colorado Option, Anthem Colorado Option, Cigna Colorado Option, RMHP/UHC Colorado Option, Denver Health Elevate Colorado Option.
RMHP is Rocky Mountain Health Plans, which is actually UnitedHealthcare, except they still call it RMHP, but your online account will be with UnitedHealthcare. So we’ll say RMHP/UHC. If your doctor said they take UnitedHealthcare, then we need to clarify whether they take Colorado Doctor’s Plan. That can be a Colorado Option through Connect for Health Colorado or Colorado Connect.
Jay operates a health insurance brokerage in Colorado, where he helps individuals and small groups obtain and maintain health insurance coverage, provides data analysis, and creates visualizations that are easily understood by consumers and other stakeholders in Colorado’s health insurance market.
