Colorado health exchange enrollees top 6,000

Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s health insurance exchange, has enrolled 6,001 people in coverage since its launch Oct. 1.

More than 71,490 accounts have been created on the exchange, and the website has been has been experiencing average daily website visitation of more than 10,600, according to a release from Connect for Health Colorado.

The numbers are current as of Nov. 16, so they cover the first six weeks of the exchange. Those purchasing plans from the exchange must do so before Dec. 15 in order to be covered on Jan. 1, 2014.

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Colorado’s Medicaid expansion open enrollment also began on Oct. 1, and more than 47,300 people have enrolled in the program.

Both new Medicaid enrollees and those who purchase private insurance before the deadline from Connect for Health Colorado will begin receiving coverage Jan. 1, 2014.

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, states were given the opportunity to expand their Medicaid eligibility using federal funds.

Coloradans earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level – $14,856 for an individual and $30,657 for a family of four –are now eligible to enroll in Medicaid.

Colorado law already allows Medicaid to cover children and some adults in this income bracket. The new eligibility standards will enable the state to cover an additional 160,000 adults. Medicaid currently covers about 620,000 people in Colorado.