February 18, 2010
Do Colorado uninsured rates vary by geographic region? Using data from the COHS, this issue brief provides an analysis of regional differences in uninsured rates and examines the sociodemographic factors that may explain the observed differences. For example, some regions may have higher uninsured rates because their populations have higher poverty or unemployment rates, while other regions may have higher uninsured rates because of the age distribution of their population.
In November 2008, the 2008–09 Colorado Household Survey (COHS) was initiated to collect information on the health insurance status of Coloradans. The COHS was sponsored by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and funded by The Colorado Trust in an effort to more accurately assess the issues surrounding health insurance coverage in Colorado and to provide baseline information about health care coverage and access in anticipation of state and national health reform efforts.
Revised February 2010 - CHI learned of a problem with the weight variable on the first release of the 2008–09 Colorado Household Survey (COHS) data file. The weight variable is used when calculating descriptive and inferential statistics from the COHS data. It adjusts the sample numbers to represent the entire Colorado population and corrects for subtle differences between the sample population and the overall Colorado population for characteristics such as age, gender, race, etc. The weight variable has been corrected and the revised COHS data are now available. As expected, the revised weight variable has had some impact on the estimates from the COHS data. For example, the percent uninsured at the time of the survey is now 13.5%, whereas it was 13.8% originally. All available publications based on the COHS data have subsequently been revised and updated. If you have any questions or would like addition information please contact Anna Furniss at CHI, furnissa@coloradohealthinstitute.org.