Colorado HealthOP, the state's consumer operated and oriented plan (CO-OP), has signed an agreement with the broker network Warner Pacific to market its health plans, in the first relationship between agents and state health cooperatives.
"Establishing relationships with brokers is a big part of our overall strategy as we seek to provide consumers with every opportunity to receive education and guidance on the right health insurance decision for them," Brad O'Neill, Colorado HealthOP's senior broker relations officer, said in a media release.
"We expect this will be the first of many highly selective broker relationships that Colorado HealthOP will sign in order to make our plans accessible to Coloradans across the state," added O'Neill, a former VP at the insurance brokerage Hub International.
Warner Pacific's network includes about 1,000 brokers in Colorado, who will help advertise the CO-OPs health plans in rural and urban parts of the state.
A 30-year-old, family-owned brokerage operating in California and Colorado, Warner Pacific has about 8,000 brokers selling plans from large insurers like Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Health Net and Kaiser Permanente.
Warner Pacific's VP of sales, John Kurath, said in a media release that "Colorado HealthOP's member-driven model, with the emphasis on preventive health, presents our broker network with a truly unique offering to share with their clients."
"As Coloradans actively explore their options to comply with health insurance requirements, they will seek insurance alternatives that make sense for their individual needs and lifestyles," Kurath said.
Colorado HealthOP was formed last March with sponsorship from the Rocky Mountains Farmers Union Educational and Charitable Foundation, with the founding board including Lindy Wallace, the former deputy director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, and Joanne Hill, the former Insurance Commissioner and State Auditor.
The Colorado HealthOP received a $63 million low-interest loan from CMS last July -- before Congress cut the remaining $1.4 billion earmarked for CO-OPs under the ACA, as part of January's fiscal cliff deal.
CO-OPs in 24 states had already received a total of $2 billion in funds for start-up loans, and the fiscal cliff deal left CO-OPs in other states that had yet to complete the award process in limbo, with some lawmakers and health groups vowing to find a way to reinstate the funding.