Navigating Health Insurance: A Guide for Refugees in Colorado

CHI, in collaboration with the African Community Center, created and translated a fact sheet to help refugees in Colorado navigate the complex U.S. health insurance system after their initial Medicaid coverage ends.

August 8, 2024

August 30, 2024

Refugee Insurance Fact Sheet thumbnail image — Download the fact sheet: Arabic | Dari | English | Spanish | Swahili

American health insurance is difficult to figure out. There’s a mix of government programs that limit enrollment by income, ability, or age. Many employers offer coverage. Some people have to seek out and buy insurance on their own.

Imagine navigating this system in a language you don’t speak, in a new city — after being chased from your home by war or violence. That’s the experience for refugees.

A refugee is a special type of legal immigrant. They are recognized by the United Nations as people who have had to flee their country for their own safety. The United States and many other nations take in refugees, but people often have to spend years in refugee camps before they make it here.

Nearly 10,000 refugees came to Colorado in 2022 and 2023, according to state records. That’s more than the previous six years combined. The state government and local nonprofits provide an array of services for them.

The three main resettlement agencies — International Rescue Committee, Lutheran Family Services, and the African Community Center — provide case management and help to find an apartment, a job, and an initial medical appointment. The Colorado Refugee Services Program has vital information on its website.

But staff at the African Community Center needed a simple fact sheet for refugees who were losing eligibility for Medicaid. Refugees are enrolled in Medicaid for their first eight months in the country, regardless of their income. But eight months goes by fast, and people quickly get thrown into the confusing American health insurance system.

CHI used part of its operating grant from The Colorado Trust to produce a fact sheet and translate it into four of the languages most commonly spoken by refugees in Colorado — Arabic (for Syrians and Iraqis), Dari (for Afghans), Spanish (for Cubans, Venezuelans, and Central Americans), and Swahili (mostly for people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

We co-branded the fact sheets with the African Community Center so refugees would see a trusted name on the handout. We are making them available on this website for anyone to download and use.