Where you buy matters
Connect for Health Colorado, and why buying elsewhere costs you
Figures on this page checked . Medicare and marketplace numbers reset every year — if you are reading this long after that date, call and we will tell you what moved.
Reviewed by Lexi Abbott, a licensed Colorado advisor, on .
See your 2027 prices
Every Connect for Health Colorado plan in your county, with your tax credit estimated, on Grove’s quote site.
What is Connect for Health Colorado?
Connect for Health Colorado is a nonprofit created by state law to run Colorado’s Affordable Care Act marketplace. It is not itself a state agency, and it is not an insurance company — the plans sold through it come from carriers and are regulated by the Colorado Division of Insurance.
Colorado runs its own marketplace rather than using the federal HealthCare.gov. That is why Colorado’s rules, dates, and financial help can differ from what national articles describe.
Financial help only exists on the exchange
The thing to understand
Premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions are available only on plans bought through Connect for Health Colorado. Buy the identical plan design directly from the carrier — “off-exchange” — and you forfeit all of it.
The plan can look the same, be from the same carrier, and carry the same network. The difference is not the product; it is whether any of the help can be applied to it.
For 2027, Connect for Health Colorado shows off-exchange plans on its own site, but only to people who do not qualify for financial help, and each one is labeled “Not eligible for savings.” If you qualify, you see only plans your help applies to.
Elsewhere it is easier to land off-exchange by accident than you would think — a carrier’s own website, a comparison site, or an agent who only sells off-exchange. Ask the question out loud before you enroll anywhere.
Where a broker fits
We are certified brokers with Connect for Health Colorado. We enroll you through the exchange, so nothing about working with us puts your financial help at risk, and it costs you nothing — carriers pay broker commission that is built into the premium either way.
Grove Benefit Advisors, LLC is a certified broker with Connect for Health Colorado and is not a government agency or the marketplace itself. Plan availability, networks, and pricing vary by county. Any savings figure shown here is illustrative; final eligibility for a premium tax credit is determined by Connect for Health Colorado on your application.
Questions about the exchange
Does it cost more to buy through Connect for Health Colorado than directly from the carrier?
Bronze and Gold plans cost the same on and off the exchange. A Silver plan costs less off the exchange, because the exchange’s Silver premiums include the cost of the extra savings some Silver buyers get.
That only helps if you qualify for no financial help at all. Financial help exists only on the exchange, so for anyone who qualifies, buying off the exchange gives it up — and is usually far more expensive.
What’s the difference between a broker and Connect for Health Colorado’s own staff?
Connect for Health Colorado has assisters and a service center who can help you complete an application and understand your options. They are free, they are good, and they are deliberately neutral — they cannot recommend a specific plan.
A broker is licensed and appointed with carriers, so we can recommend one, enroll you, and stay on your file afterwards when a network changes or a bill looks wrong. Also free to you. If you want a recommendation rather than a walkthrough, that is the difference.