The Rockies and Colorado’s Uninsured: Off to a Promising Start

The National League West-leading Rockies are off to a great start this season, and a new analysis by the Colorado Health Institute (CHI) shows they aren’t the state’s only recent success story.

The number of uninsured Coloradans who did not enroll in Medicaid or Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+), despite being eligible for the public coverage programs, continued to drop in 2015. CHI’s study also found a decline in the number of Coloradans failing to take advantage of tax credits to purchase insurance through the state-based marketplace, even though they were eligible for them.

Of the 441,000 Coloradans who were uninsured in 2015, CHI estimates that 252,000 were eligible for assistance in obtaining coverage — 130,000 through Medicaid or CHP+ and 122,000 through the tax credits. This is down from 371,000 in 2014.

This eligible but not enrolled (EBNE) population accounted for 57 percent of the state’s remaining uninsured. The rest of Colorado’s uninsured were in higher income brackets, had refused offers of affordable insurance from an employer or were undocumented immigrants.

The findings show that health policies designed to help low- and middle-income earners — including the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and accompanying enrollment and outreach efforts — are making inroads toward the goal of full health coverage.

Want to learn more about the EBNE population or see the data for your county? Check out the report and data tables on CHI’s website.