COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Planning

Background

In January 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared a public health emergency (PHE) in response to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Congress passed legislation that ensured anyone enrolled in Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid program) was guaranteed to keep their health coverage during the PHE. This is known as the “continuous coverage requirement” and also applies to kids and pregnant people covered by Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+). Congress recently passed a bill that ends the continuous coverage requirement in spring 2023.

Planning for the end of the COVID-19 Continuous Coverage Requirement

• Health First Colorado and CHP+ will return to normal eligibility renewal processes with renewals due in May and noticing beginning in March 2023.
• The Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) will take 12 months (14 months including noticing) to complete renewals for each of the approximately 1.7 million people currently enrolled.
• Members should
  • Update their contact information so we can reach them.
  • Respond to and sign renewal paperwork to make sure they keep their Health First Colorado and CHP+ coverage if they are still eligible.
• Members can find out their renewal dates and access more information at hfcgo.com/renewals

How you can help

We need your partnership to:

• ensure eligible members can keep their health coverage; and
• tell people who no longer qualify where they can go for affordable coverage resources.

Use and share the materials in our toolkits to:

1. Ask members to update their contact information so we can reach them.
2. Educate yourselves on the renewal process so you can effectively help members.
3. Inform members they need to take action to keep their health coverage.

We value your partnership and encourage you to share feedback on best practices, new tools and meaningful metrics with us at hcpf_comms@state.co.us.

Toolkits:

Phase 1: Preparing for renewals