Boulder's economy is an unusual stack: the University of Colorado's flagship campus, federal science labs including NIST and NOAA facilities, a venture-backed startup scene, and an outdoor recreation industry that runs from gear designers to mountain guides. Startups and guiding businesses share a trait that matters for this page. Both produce a lot of people earning real income with no benefits attached.
The rules here
| Short-term products | Not available in Colorado |
| Extended short-term (multi-year) | Not available |
| Products available | ACA marketplace, supplemental |
| Exchange type | State-based (Connect for Health Colorado) |
| Open enrollment | Set by the state exchange, generally opening November 1 |
| Medicaid expansion | Yes |
What's available in Boulder
| Coverage line | Available here | Key limit | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACA marketplace plans | Yes | Open enrollment or a qualifying event | ACA plans |
| Short-term medical | No | Regulation so restrictive no carrier sells it | Short-term |
| Extended short-term (multi-year) | No | Zero market in the state | Extended plans |
| Fixed indemnity | No | Not sold as standalone coverage in Colorado | |
| Supplemental (accident, critical illness, dental, vision) | Yes | Defined cash benefits alongside major medical | Accident · Critical illness · Dental · Vision |
Supplemental policies pay fixed amounts for specific events. They are not ACA compliant and do not count as minimum essential coverage.
What one person pays for coverage in Colorado
Average monthly premiums for individual coverage. Family pricing differs; quotes are individual.
| Coverage type | Monthly premium (individual) | What that number is |
|---|---|---|
| ACA marketplace (before subsidy) | $673 avg. | State average, before tax credits (CMS Marketplace OEP, 2026).1 |
| ACA marketplace (after average subsidy) | $187 after credit | State average, after the average tax credit, among subsidized enrollees (CMS Marketplace OEP, 2026).1 |
| Employer coverage (single / family) | $698 / $2081 single / family | State average total monthly premium, single / family; employee pays about $159/mo toward single coverage (MEPS-IC, 2024).2 |
| Medicaid | $0 or nominal for those who qualify | Program design, not an average; eligibility is income-based5 |
| Accident | $39.95 median | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Colorado with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
| Critical Illness | $55.08 median | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Colorado with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
Boulder incomes are famously bimodal: funded startup salaries on one side, seasonal guiding and graduate stipends on the other. The subsidy formula only cares about your household's annual figure, and no one gets a guaranteed number before the application runs.
Averages from federal data and our own client base, not quotes. Your price depends on your age, household, income, and plan choice.
Boulder at a glance
The university is the county's dominant employer, joined by federal research institutions and a cluster of aerospace, biotech, and software companies that grew out of the lab and campus pipeline. High housing costs push many younger workers into shared households and freelance stacking, which complicates subsidy estimates but rarely blocks coverage.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~108,000 | Boulder (FIPS 08013) | Boulder |
Three Boulder situations
Ingrid, 34, climbing guide with winter ski patrol shifts. Two seasonal employers, neither with benefits. She holds her own marketplace plan year round, reports income swings as they happen, and carries an accident supplement because her job description is managing falls.
Dev, 28, engineer at a startup that just lost its bridge round. The layoff ends his group plan and opens a Special Enrollment Period. At his suddenly lower annual income, the credit on a marketplace plan surprises him, and he keeps coverage active while interviewing.
Ruth, 62, retired lab scientist consulting part time. Three years from Medicare, she buys a marketplace plan that takes her medical history without underwriting questions. Consulting keeps her income above Medicaid range but modest, so a credit trims the premium meaningfully.
How Colorado's rules work
Colorado caps short-term limited duration insurance so tightly that no carrier chooses to sell it, leaving a zero market. The restriction lives in state regulation, which is the binding constraint; federal enforcement decisions on short-term rules do not create a product here.
What Boulder buyers use instead: Connect for Health Colorado, the state exchange, with open enrollment dates set by the state and generally opening November 1. Expanded Medicaid, which covers adults on income alone, catches students, seasonal workers, and between-jobs professionals during low-income stretches. And Special Enrollment Periods, roughly 60 days after qualifying events, handle the midyear transitions a startup economy generates constantly. The absence of a short-term product bothers people until they see how the pieces fit; then it mostly stops mattering.
Between funding rounds or between seasons? A licensed Colorado agent can keep your coverage continuous. No obligation.
Keep reading — more Colorado guides
Premium data methodology. 1 Marketplace premium averages reflect the average monthly premium before advance premium tax credits, the average monthly premium after advance premium tax credits among subsidized enrollees, and the percentage of enrollees receiving advance premium tax credits, for Colorado, as reported in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Marketplace Open Enrollment Period Public Use Files, 2026 plan year, available at cms.gov. Figures are statewide averages across all metal tiers, ages, and household sizes; your premium will differ based on your age, household, income, county, and plan selection.
2 Employer coverage averages reflect the average total monthly premium for single and family coverage at private-sector establishments in Colorado, including both employer and employee contributions, as reported in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Insurance Component (MEPS-IC), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2024 tables, available at meps.ahrq.gov. Employee contribution figure reflects the average employee share of the single-coverage premium. Employer plan costs vary by employer, plan design, and firm size.
3 Client averages are calculated from GetHealthPlans.com (MTG Insurance Agency LLC) internal book-of-business records as of July 15, 2026 and reflect the median or mean monthly premium, as labeled, among active policies providing individual coverage (one covered person) of the stated product type held by our clients residing in the stated state or, where labeled agency-wide, across all states in which we operate. Family and multi-person policies are excluded so that figures reflect what one person pays. Figures are shown only for states and products where our records include a sufficient number of active individual policies to report a meaningful average, with a minimum of ten; combinations below that threshold are not shown. Where a figure is labeled "median," half of our client policies in that group pay less and half pay more. Our client base reflects the products we sell, skews toward medically underwritten coverage, and may not represent all buyers or all plans available in a state. These figures are historical averages of premiums actually paid by our clients, are not quotes, offers, or projections, and are not statements of what any individual will pay. Individual premiums are determined by the insurer at application based on age, location, term length, benefit selections, and underwriting outcomes.
4 No federal or state agency publishes average premium data for short-term limited duration insurance or fixed indemnity insurance. Where we do not display a client-base figure for these products, it is because we do not have sufficient policy volume in that state to report a meaningful average. Short-term and fixed indemnity products are medically underwritten, are not major medical coverage, are not required to cover pre-existing conditions or essential health benefits, and do not constitute minimum essential coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
5 Medicaid and CHIP are public programs, not insurance products sold by this agency. Premiums are $0 or nominal for those who qualify; eligibility is determined by your state based on income, household size, and other factors. The figure shown describes program design, not an average. Contact your state Medicaid agency or HealthCare.gov to check eligibility.