Health insurance rates for middle-income Coloradans who buy their own coverage are set to double in 2026, according to the state’s insurance division.

The statewide net average premium increase will hit 101%, the Colorado Division of Insurance said on Monday, adding that likely will mean that 75,000 Coloradans won’t be able to afford health insurance next year.

The increase is primarily due to the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, available to those who buy their own health insurance through Connect for Health Colorado.

Those enhanced tax credits will expire on Dec. 31 as part of H.R. 1, the federal budget passed by the Republican-led Congress in July.

Approximately 225,000 Coloradans have relied on tax credits, including the enhanced subsidies adopted in 2021, to help pay for their health insurance, officials said.

That year, President Joe Biden’s administration expanded the tax credits to people who earn more than 400% of the federal poverty level.

The number of enrollees in the Affordable Care Act marketplace has doubled to more than 24 million people nationwide since that change, with many receiving the enhanced subsidies. Experts said if the enhanced tax credits expired, many would still qualify for the standard, albeit smaller, subsidies, but others would lose their eligibility.

In Colorado, the insurance division said that an average family of four with an annual income of $128,000 will no longer qualify for any financial assistance to purchase health insurance.

A Denver family of four will see an increase of about $14,000 for a standard silver plan. The increases will be higher outside of the Front Range, the division said.

On the Western Slope, the San Luis Valley, or the Eastern Plains, the increase could be between $16,000 and $21,000 for the same standard silver plan, the division said.

Commissioner of Insurance Michael Conway said the high rates will “create impossible decisions for families across the state. We have sounded the alarm bells at every turn, but Congress’ refusal to act means that Coloradans will be left with unacceptably high health insurance bills during a tightening time in the economy.”

The Commonwealth Fund estimated this month that nearly five million people nationwide will likely become uninsured due to the expiration of the tax credits.

Approximately 339,100 jobs are projected to be lost in 2026, the Commonwealth Fund added, about half of which are expected to be health care-related jobs.

Colorado is expected to lose about 2,900 jobs, the group estimated.

The loss of health insurance is expected to put greater financial pressure on hospitals that provide health care for the uninsured. The Common Sense Institute reported in August that uninsured patients who can’t pay for emergency procedures cost Colorado hospitals an annual average of $1,425 per person in uncompensated care. The expiration of the enhanced credit will generate an additional $51.3 to $108.5 million, bringing the total to $653.4 million, the group said. 

The Colorado Hospital Association has said hospitals have seen a 140% increase in charity care since 2019. 

Hospital emergency departments are seeing 50% more uninsured patients than before or during the pandemic and more than 18,000 more are visiting emergency rooms each quarter, the association said. 

That’s on top of 575,000 Coloradans who lost Medicaid coverage in 2023 and 2024, when the public health emergency ended.

Open enrollment begins on Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 15, 2026.