Jeff Bontrager
Director of Research and Evaluation
Jeff Bontrager is Director of Research and Evaluation at the Colorado Health Institute. He joined CHI in 2005. Jeff oversees CHI’s evaluation portfolio and coordinates many of CHI’s research efforts related to health insurance, Coloradans who lack insurance, the health care safety net, and health equity.
Jeff serves as principal investigator on the biennial Colorado Health Access Survey and the annual evaluation of the Colorado Health Access Fund of The Denver Foundation. Jeff develops publications, makes presentations, and provides facilitation, leadership, and technical expertise for a variety of advisory groups.
Before arriving at CHI, Jeff supported state and national research efforts at the University of Colorado’s Division of Health Care Policy and Research.
Jeff serves on the boards of Project Angel Heart and ECHO Colorado. In his free time, Jeff enjoys running, skiing, acting, listening to choral music and EDM (not at the same time); designing neckwear; attending 80s music festivals; and putting together IKEA furniture.
Jeff earned a master’s degree in public health from the University of Colorado and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Goshen College.
Sample Projects:
- Colorado's Health and Climate Policy Agenda
- Stretching the Safety Net: How Are Colorado’s Providers Adapting Amid Change and Uncertainty?
- 2019 Colorado Health Access Survey: Progress in Peril
- Telemedicine in Colorado: The Jetsons, A RAPID Response to COVID-19, and the Big Questions Ahead
- Flashpoints and Fixes: An Asset and Gap Analysis of Barriers to Care for Coloradans with High Health Needs
- The ABCs of Health Equity for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs: A Policy Agenda for Colorado
- 2019 Medicaid and Commercial Access to Care Index: How Payer Type Influences Coloradans' Access to Needed Health Care
- The Ways of the RAEs: Regional Accountable Entities and Their Role in Colorado's Medicaid's Newest Chapter
Skills: Quantitative and qualitative research, program evaluation, facilitation, public speaking, writing, convening
Focus Areas:
- Health equity
- Medicaid Insurance coverage
- Policy Health care safety net
- Social determinants of health
I Do This Work Because…Our health is everything. Without health we do not thrive. Informing policy with evidence is key to ensuring all Coloradans live to their healthiest potential.