Colorado Health Access Survey 2025

The uninsured rate is 5.9%, which is statistically similar to every survey since 2015, after the Affordable Care Act took effect. Medicaid enrollment has also returned to its pre-pandemic level, with about a fifth of Coloradans in the program. And more than half of Coloradans got their health insurance through an employer for the first time since 2019.

People with insurance saw the doctor more often than people without insurance, but many of them still couldn’t afford the care they needed. The 6.7% of Coloradans who purchased coverage on the individual market had more problems affording health care than any other group except the uninsured.

Two-thirds of Medicaid and Medicare members had positive views of the health care system. People with employer-based insurance were less happy, and only about half of those on the individual market had a positive view of the system. But people without insurance were the least positive, with only 20% saying the health care system works for their family.

Many Coloradans face hard choices about paying for essentials. More than a quarter skipped health care because they couldn’t afford it, more than a tenth couldn’t afford food, and another tenth had trouble paying their rent or mortgage.

This is a notable improvement that breaks a trend of worsening mental health results over the past decade of surveys. Children under 18 are getting better access to behavioral health care. But young adults ages 18 to 29 show the highest rates of poor mental health and the least access to needed care. 

New questions on the survey reveal the scope of social isolation and its strong tie to health. People who reported loneliness were more than twice as likely as other Coloradans to say their overall health is poor or only fair.

People in these groups reported much higher levels of poor mental health or economic stress. More than four in 10 American Indian or Alaska Native Coloradans had trouble paying for health care, housing, or food. Young adults reported more challenges than all other age groups with mental health, social isolation, and paying for health care, food, and housing. And two-thirds of people who identified as a gender other than male or female said they were lonely.