This story by Sara Wilson appeared on Colorado Newsline on August 24, 2025.
Lawmakers now want to sell additional tax credits instead of borrowing from the state’s unclaimed property fund to shore up the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise fund, which pays for programs to reduce individual insurance market premiums.
House Bill 25B-1006 aims to raise $100 million for that enterprise to soften the impact of the expiration of federal enhanced premium tax credits. Health insurance premiums for people who buy it on the individual market are expected to face an average of a 28% increase next year, with higher increases along the Western Slope.
HIAE funds the state’s reinsurance for claims from high-cost individuals, subsidies for carriers on the state’s Health Insurance Exchange and the state’s OmniSalud program for undocumented people.
It is possible Congress will extend or partially restore the federal enhanced premium tax credit in question, in which case the loan considered in the bill wouldn’t happen.
The bill originally planned to borrow money from the state’s Unclaimed Property Trust Fund. That is how it passed the House, but the funding mechanism was amended in the Senate Finance Committee on Sunday morning.
“We worked with the treasurer’s office to do this, broadening the pool to make sure we’re not having a negative impact on existing tax credit programs, like affordable housing,” bill sponsor Sen. Kyle Mullica, a Thornton Democrat, said.
The state’s treasury department would tap a third-party vendor to sell the tax credits to insurance companies and C corporations during this fiscal year. The credits would allow companies to essentially get a discount on future tax liabilities to the tune of 80 cents on the dollar — the department could sell up to $100 million in credits that would then have a face value of $125 million.
“This $100 million is going to have a meaningful impact on folks,” Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway told lawmakers on Sunday morning. “But it’s not going to replace everything at the federal level. It’s not even close.”
The bill would give the Legislature some time and breathing room to come up with a “sustainable solution,” Conway said.
It is a similar strategy to another bill on the table this special session to raise revenue for the state’s General Fund.
The Legislature also allowed the treasury department to sell tax credits to fund loans for small businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
HB25B-1006 now needs to get through the Senate Appropriations Committee.