Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Colorado program

Help with a work-plan premium (HIBI)

Colorado can help pay a commercial health-plan premium when someone has Health First Colorado.

What it is

Colorado can help pay a commercial health-plan premium when someone has Health First Colorado.

A work-plan premium can remain a large expense even after Medicaid approval. HIBI reviews whether paying that premium saves Colorado money. A yes can cover all or part of the premium.

Eligibility rules
  • Someone must have active Health First Colorado and access to commercial insurance.
  • The annual premium must cost less than the care Colorado would otherwise pay for.
  • You can request the review before enrolling in the commercial plan. Enrollment is necessary before payments arrive.
What you get
  • Monthly payments for all or part of a commercial insurance premium.
What the coverage includes
  • HIBI pays toward insurance premiums. It does not replace the commercial plan or its coverage rules.
  • There is no application charge. Payments can arrive by check or bank transfer to the insurance client or payee on file.
If you decide to apply
  1. Discuss with your financial counselor whether a HIBI premium review would help and what the online or telephone request involves.
  2. Have the commercial plan documents, premium amount and Health First Colorado information ready.

Colorado HIBI: 855-692-6442 · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • Payments begin only after enrollment in the commercial plan. The administrator reviews whether the plan is cost-effective.
  • A decision can take up to 30 business days after the application is complete.
Good to know

Children with CHP+ alone and members of a Health First Colorado Buy-In program cannot use HIBI.

Other details
  • The Children with Disabilities Buy-In Program is a different program and is excluded from this premium-help route.

Federal background: Medicaid premium assistance.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could HIBI help with a work-plan premium, and would keeping that plan be worth the remaining cost and paperwork? If so, could you help us request the review?”

Why I’m asking: I want to know whether keeping commercial coverage could cost less after Medicaid approval.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Apply online or by telephone and send the plan documents they ask for.

Your social worker

The hospital financial counselor can tell you what the work plan costs a month.

The care team

Nothing.

Who decides
The state's buy-in administrator.
Ask your social worker
“We have Health First Colorado and a plan at work. Can we ask the state to pay the work-plan premium?”

How to apply

First step: Apply at mycohibi.com or call 855-692-6442 once the child has Health First Colorado.

  1. Apply at mycohibi.com once the child has Health First Colorado.
  2. Keep paying the work-plan premium until the state confirms it is paying.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply at mycohibi.com or call 855-692-6442.

What to gather

  • The work plan's premium amount and plan documents
  • The Health First Colorado notice

How long: Up to 30 business days once the application is complete.

What a yes looks like

Payments by cheque or bank transfer to the insurer or the payee on file.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Usually the premium costs more than the care the state would pay for. Ask them to say so in writing.

Watch out

  • This is not the buy-in for children with disabilities. A family on that one cannot use this.
  • A child with Child Health Plan Plus alone is excluded.
  • You must be enrolled in the work plan before any payment arrives.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Monthly payments for all or part of a commercial health-insurance premium.

Covers: Payment of all or part of the commercial premium, by cheque or bank transfer to the insurance client or the payee on file

Legal protection: You need not already be enrolled in the plan to apply

What it costs the family: Nothing to apply.

The eligibility facts, as published

Coverage
Active Health First Colorado, plus access to commercial insurance
Exclusions
Members of the Health First Colorado Buy-In programme, and children with Child Health Plan Plus alone
Test
The yearly premium must be less than the care the state would otherwise pay for

The trap: You do not have to already be enrolled in the work plan to apply, but you do have to be enrolled before any payment arrives. The state decides on whether the premium costs less than the care it would otherwise pay for, so a yes is not automatic.

Where I read this

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