Colorado State University sets the rhythm in Fort Collins, from the academic payroll to the graduate students and recent grads cycling through the local economy. Around the campus sits a craft brewing industry with national reach, technology manufacturing with decades of history in town, and a strong current of outdoor recreation businesses. Universities generate a specific insurance problem on repeat: people whose coverage ends on a semester schedule rather than a job schedule.
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 Fort Collins
| Coverage line | Available here | Key limit | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACA marketplace plans | Yes | Open enrollment or a qualifying event | ACA plans |
| Short-term medical | No | State rules leave carriers unwilling to sell | Short-term |
| Extended short-term (multi-year) | No | Zero market in Colorado | Extended plans |
| Fixed indemnity | No | Not sold as standalone coverage in Colorado | |
| Supplemental (accident, critical illness, dental, vision) | Yes | Set cash benefits with major medical underneath | Accident · Critical illness · Dental · Vision |
Supplemental policies pay defined amounts for specific events. None of them count as minimum essential coverage or replace a medical plan.
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 |
Stipends, seasonal brewery work, and first professional salaries dominate the local income mix, which usually means credits do real work here. The formula follows annual household income, and only a processed application settles your number.
Averages from federal data and our own client base, not quotes. Your price depends on your age, household, income, and plan choice.
Fort Collins at a glance
CSU is Larimer County's largest employer, and the city's brewing cluster made Fort Collins one of the craft beer capitals of the country, with production, packaging, and hospitality jobs to match. Technology manufacturing and a growing remote workforce round out an economy younger than the state average.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~170,000 | Larimer (FIPS 08069) | Fort Collins |
Three Fort Collins situations
Maddie, 24, graduating in May with student health coverage ending. Graduation ends her plan, a qualifying event with its own enrollment window. At a first-job salary that starts in September, her interim income qualifies her for a strong credit, or possibly Medicaid for the summer months.
Erik, 38, brewery packaging lead whose small employer dropped its group plan. The employer's decision is a qualifying event for the whole staff. He enrolls his family through Connect for Health Colorado, and the credit at his income beats what he was paying in payroll deductions.
Joanne, 60, potter selling through galleries and summer markets. Two decades self-employed, she re-shops every fall as plans and networks change, and keeps her income estimate honest across a seasonal sales curve.
How Colorado's rules work
No carrier sells short-term limited duration insurance in Colorado; the state's restrictions are strict enough that the market is zero. State regulation is the binding constraint, and it does not move when federal enforcement policy moves.
For a university town, the practical playbook looks like this. Coverage losses on the academic calendar, graduation, assistantship endings, aging off a parent's plan at 26, are qualifying events opening roughly 60-day windows. Connect for Health Colorado sets its own open enrollment dates, generally opening November 1. Expanded Medicaid picks up adults during low-income stretches, common between graduation and a first job. Every one of those paths requires acting inside a window, because no product exists to rescue a missed one.
Semester-schedule coverage problems have calendar-based answers. A licensed Colorado agent can line up your dates. 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.