Anthem Short-Term Plans in Colorado

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield used to sell a temporary medical plan in Colorado called Blue Short Term PPO — 30 to 180 days of coverage on the Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO network, with deductible choices and a $1 million maximum. It has not been available for years, and it is not coming back.

The reason is not specific to Anthem. Colorado no longer has a short-term health insurance market at all. Effective April 1, 2019, the state required any short-term plan sold here to be guaranteed issue, cover the essential health benefits, cap age rating at a 3:1 ratio and meet a minimum 80% medical loss ratio. Those are essentially the ACA's rules. Once a short-term plan had to be priced and underwritten like major medical coverage, there was no reason for it to exist, and every carrier — Anthem included — stopped offering one.

Colorado law still permits short-term policies on paper: non-renewable, no longer than six months, and not available to anyone who has already had more than one such policy in the past 12 months. No insurer writes them.

What Anthem does still offer in Colorado

Anthem remains Colorado's largest health insurer and is one of the carriers on Connect for Health Colorado for 2026, alongside Cigna, Denver Health, Kaiser Permanente, Rocky Mountain Health Plans and SelectHealth. Through this agency you can look at:

• Anthem individual and family health plans — ACA coverage, guaranteed issue, with premium tax credits for many applicants
• Anthem Medicare Supplement plans if you are 65 or approaching it
• Anthem dental plans, available year-round

If you needed short-term coverage

There are still good options for a coverage gap in Colorado — they are just not short-term medical:

• A marketplace plan through a Special Enrollment Period, if you have lost job-based coverage, moved, married, had a baby or aged off a parent's plan — get an on-exchange quote
• Health First Colorado (Medicaid) or CHP+, which you can apply for at any time of year
• COBRA, if you are leaving an employer — see our COBRA FAQ, and compare it against a subsidized marketplace plan before you commit
• Year-round accident, hospital indemnity and critical illness plans to sit alongside major medical

The full picture is on our Short-Term Health Insurance in Colorado page.

Talk to a licensed Colorado agent

We are an independent Colorado agency and there is no fee for our help. Call (855) 847-7020, request a quote online, or send us a message.

Insurance rules change. This page reflects Colorado law and market availability as of August 2026 — confirm current options with a licensed agent before you enroll.