How would you decide between receiving essential medical care and meeting your basic living expenses? It’s an impossible choice, but it’s one that small business owners like Sydney Jackson-Clockston of Fort Collins are regularly forced to make.

When Sydney was very ill and didn’t have health insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic, she avoided going to the hospital because she couldn’t afford the medical bills, a difficult decision that could have cost her life as well as her business. Fortunately, Sydney was later able to enroll in Connect for Health Colorado — our state’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace — and had health coverage when she was hit as a pedestrian by an uninsured driver. Today, her health insurance allows her to receive ongoing care and physical therapy.

Sydney is

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