Colorado Presses for Uninsured to Enroll

Matthew Staver for The New York Times

Patty Fontneau, executive director of Colorado's new insurance market, said, "We're going to be open and running" on Oct. 1.

DENVER — Television commercials have already run suggesting that buying health coverage through the state's new insurance market, Connect for Health Colorado, will feel like winning the World Series.

The market's employees are traveling the state to explain how it will work, often in electric yellow T-shirts with the message, "Got Insurance?" In the coming weeks, 400 guides will be trained to help the uninsured sign up for coverage, with some targeting groups like Hispanics, gay and lesbian citizens, and even truckers.

This is Colorado, five months before the central provisions of President Obama's health care law take effect: a hive of preparation, with a homegrown insurance market working closely with state agencies and lawmakers to help ensure the law's success. Gov. John W. Hickenlooper, a Democrat, is a firm supporter, and the state legislature, controlled by Democrats, has not thrown up any obstacles.

When the legislature voted to allow a state-based insurance market in 2011, Republicans controlled the House of Representatives, but many supported the bill, contending that it would give Colorado more control over how the health care law played out here. This spring, state lawmakers voted along party lines to approve an expansion of Medicaid, which is encouraged but not required under the law.

The law does have opponents in Colorado, but they can do little to stop the Democrats from carrying it out. In February, Republicans even helped kill a bill that would have repealed the law allowing the insurance market.

"There's politics everywhere these days," Mr. Hickenlooper said in an interview, "but for the most part, we've really been focused on how to do this right, and trying to make sure that people have affordable health care."

Connect for Health has received about $180 million in federal money to be up and running by Oct. 1 and to cover the first year's operating costs.

Much of the work involves building the Web portal through which people who do not get insurance through their job can buy coverage. Colorado residents will be able to shop for insurance plans and compare them on www.connectforhealthco.com, and determine whether they qualify for federal subsidies to help with the cost.

The portal has to be able to exchange information in real time with insurance companies, state agencies and the federal government, which is building a "data hub" through which it can verify income and citizenship.

Contractors have almost completed work on the portal, said Patty Fontneau, executive director of Connect for Health. Testing is under way to make sure it will function properly when it opens for business in just two months.

"Will it be perfect?" Ms. Fontneau said. "Unlikely, but we have the right team in place to ensure that we're going to be open and running, and as close to perfect as could be, on Oct. 1."

Connect for Health has announced which insurers want to sell plans through the market — more than a dozen companies, including most of the state's biggest insurers — and their proposed rates. Colorado's Division of Insurance will announce the final rates this month.

The biggest remaining task is letting roughly 760,000 uninsured Coloradans know the new marketplace exists, and persuading those who qualify to buy coverage through it. That is what the ads are for, and what people like Jessica Dunbar are spending most of their time trying to do. She is the individual market manager at Connect for Health, and her job is getting the word out.

Ms. Dunbar spent one evening explaining the law's basics and how the market will work, to a small group at the Central Park Recreation Center in Denver.

"We're trying to connect people to a healthier way of life through secure health insurance coverage," she said, encouraging her audience to share stories of why insurance matters to them. She told them about Connect for Health's Web site and explained how to use a calculator on the site to find out how big a subsidy they might qualify for.

Doretta Tootle, 41, said afterward that Ms. Dunbar had cleared up most of her confusion about the law. But after hearing some sample rates — $186 to $357 a month for a 40-year-old living in Denver — Ms. Tootle was worried that plans sold through the marketplace would be out of her reach, even with a subsidy. "I was like, 'That's expensive!' " said Ms. Tootle, adding that she made less than $30,000 a year.

Still, she said, she knows many people who need insurance and wants to help spread the word. "I totally understand now," she said, "almost to the point where I want to go put this on Facebook and let everyone know, 'Hey, there's something coming out.' "

Connect for Health needs that kind of enthusiasm to spread, and fast. At a brainstorming session, members of an outreach advisory group suggested contests for designing T-shirts and posters to advertise the marketplace, and apps to explain how it works. State officials were among those tossing out ideas: Vincent Plymell, a spokesman for the Division of Insurance, suggested having games for children at promotional events so that parents could focus on learning about Connect for Health.

Mr. Hickenlooper said he would lend his voice to the publicity campaign if people thought it would help, adding that he was "nervous as a cat" about making sure the marketplace succeeded.

"We'll do whatever it takes," he said. "I'll ride around the state on a bicycle if I have to."

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