The state’s Division of Insurance has compiled a resource guide for LGBTQ Coloradans to explain their rights to receive health insurance and healthcare without discrimination.

“Still today, ten years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, LGBTQ Coloradans continue to experience discrimination in healthcare based on their sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Daniel Ramos, executive director of One Colorado, referring to the 2010 law that expanded health insurance coverage and attempted to lower premiums. 

The division’s webpage explains that it is against the law to charge LGBTQ individuals more for insurance and health services or to discriminate against them. The protections also extend to gender orientation and health condition, which includes being HIV positive.

According to the healthcare advocacy nonprofit Out2Enroll, Colorado is among the 23 states and the District of Columbia that forbid insurers from excluding transgender individuals in private plans. Further, Medicaid in Colorado covers gender-affirming therapy and surgery.

Although only 5% of LGBTQ Coloradans did not have health insurance as of 2018 – compared to 10% in 2011 – a 2019 survey found that 42% of LGBTQ people worried that their healthcare provider was not supportive of their sexual orientation and 36% feared discrimination.

The insurance division website reminds people who believe they are the subject of discrimination that they can complain to the Department of Regulatory Agencies at 303-894-7490 or DORA_Insurance@state.co.us.