The Denver Federal Center gives Lakewood one of the largest concentrations of federal employees outside Washington, and federal workers mostly have group coverage handled. The coverage questions we get from Lakewood come from everyone else: contractors who support the Center, service and retail workers around Belmar and West Colfax, and people who left a government or corporate job years before Medicare age.
The rules here
| Short-term products | Not available in Colorado |
| Products available | ACA marketplace, Medicaid (Health First Colorado), supplemental |
| Exchange type | State exchange (Connect for Health Colorado) |
| Medicaid expansion | Yes |
What's available in Lakewood
| Coverage line | Available here | Key limit | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACA marketplace plans | Yes | Open enrollment or a qualifying event | ACA plans |
| Short-term medical | No | Colorado caps these plans so tightly that no carrier sells them in the state | Not sold here |
| Extended short-term (multi-year) | No | With no short-term market in Colorado, multi-year versions do not exist here either | Not sold here |
| Fixed indemnity | No | Not sold in Colorado | Not sold here |
| Supplemental (accident, critical illness, dental, vision) | Yes | Pays defined benefits alongside a primary plan | Accident · Critical illness · Dental · Vision |
Supplemental products pay set benefits for specific events. They are not major medical insurance and do not replace a marketplace 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 (Health First Colorado) | $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 |
Self-employed Lakewood residents start from the individual marketplace benchmark above. Subsidy eligibility depends on household income and size for the year, an estimate is never a guarantee, and a licensed agent can run the actual numbers with you.
Averages from federal data and our own client base, not quotes. Your price depends on your age, household, income, and plan choice.
Lakewood at a glance
Lakewood sits between downtown Denver and the foothills, with the W Line light rail connecting it to the city core and Red Rocks Community College anchoring its west side. The Federal Center campus makes the local economy unusually dependent on government employment, so contractor turnover drives a steady share of the coverage shopping here.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~156,000 | Jefferson (FIPS 08059) | Denver |
Three Lakewood situations
Dana, 41, IT contractor supporting a Federal Center agency. Her task order ended in March, and with it her employer plan. Losing coverage is a qualifying event, so she has a Special Enrollment Period to pick a marketplace plan. In a state with no short-term market, that window is the bridge, and missing it means waiting for open enrollment.
Luis, 26, part-time retail at Belmar. He ages off his parent's plan this year, which also opens a Special Enrollment Period. At his income he may qualify for Health First Colorado, and if he earns slightly more than the Medicaid line, subsidies could bring a marketplace plan down substantially. An agent can check both in one sitting.
Pam, 61, took a buyout from a west metro employer. Four years from Medicare, she compares COBRA against a subsidized marketplace plan. Her managed blood pressure is covered either way, since ACA plans cannot exclude pre-existing conditions. She adds dental and vision supplemental because neither is built into her medical plan.
How Colorado's rules work
Colorado restricts short-term limited duration plans so severely that no carrier sells them in the state. That is not a paperwork detail. The practical market is zero, and fixed indemnity plans are not sold here either. What Colorado offers instead is guaranteed-issue ACA coverage through its own exchange, Connect for Health Colorado, alongside expanded Medicaid through Health First Colorado.
Because Colorado expanded Medicaid, there is no coverage gap: adults qualify on income alone, and Medicaid enrollment is open year-round. Marketplace open enrollment generally opens November 1, with the exact dates set by the state exchange. Outside that window you need a qualifying life event such as losing job coverage, moving, or a change in household size.
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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.