700,000 Coloradans Lack Health Insurance, Study Finds
An estimated 696,190 Coloradans, most from low-income, working families, have no health insurance, according to an analysis by the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports (Radford, Colorado Springs Gazette, 7/13). Moreover, nearly 75% of Colorado's families without health insurance have at least one person working full time and 13% have two people holding full-time jobs (Sherry, Denver Post, 7/13). The coalition's report, based on Census Bureau data from 1997 through 1999, reveals that the nearly 700,000 uninsured Coloradans represent 15.8% of the state's population; the national rate of uninsurance is 15.5%. The study also found:
- Between 11.1% and 14.1% of Coloradans under age 18 lack health insurance.
- Colorado's young adults, ages 18-24, are uninsured at the highest rate of any age group -- 31.5%.
- The state's seniors, because they are covered by Medicare, are uninsured at the lowest rate of any age group -- 1.5% (Colorado Springs Gazette, 7/13).
- Southern Colorado has numerous counties with high percentages of uninsured, including Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande and Saguache.
"Most people think the uninsured are unemployed or they're seasonal workers. But these are people with full-time jobs and who don't have coverage and can't afford it on their own," Barbara Yondorf, a health policy consultant for the coalition, said. But Tim Jackson, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, noted, "It's not always that the employer can't afford it," adding that many young employees would opt for more time off or more pay over insurance that they may not use because they are health (Denver Post, 7/13). Several local groups are leading efforts to reduce the state's uninsured population. For example, in El Paso County, which is estimated to have 75,000 to 87,000 uninsured residents, the Department of Health and Environment and 10 "collaborating organizations" have been "tentatively" selected for a $1.15 million grant to improve health care access for the uninsured and beneficiaries of Medicaid and other public health insurance programs. The coalition plans to use part of the grant to create a "data home" to track the uninsured (Colorado Springs Gazette, 7/13).
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