Reducing the number of uninsured children is an initiative being pursued by many states, including Colorado. One method is to expand the eligibility levels for publicly financed insurance programs. Another is to increase the percentage of children who enroll in insurance programs for which they are already eligible. This publication contains CHI’s estimates of Colorado children who are eligible but not enrolled (EBNE) in the Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) programs. The estimates, based on data from calendar year 2010, are provided to help health leaders understand enrollment patterns.
An estimated 133,000 Colorado children (10% of all Colorado children) were uninsured in 2010. Of these, approximately 82,000 were eligible for Medicaid or CHP+ because their families had incomes at or below 205 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). This means nearly two of every three uninsured children in Colorado were eligible for publicly financed insurance. The 2010 number of 82,000 represents a small increase over the estimate based on 2009 data (78,000) but is substantially lower than the estimate for 2008 data (104,000).
These estimates are based on CHI’s analysis of the American Community Survey as well as enrollment data from the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. County-level EBNE estimates are available in the data supplement.