About one in five Colorado adults between the ages of 19 and 64 did not have health insurance in 2010. Adults represent the vast majority—about 83 percent—of Colorado’s uninsured. Digging deeper, CHI finds wide variation within that group of uninsured adults. Findings in “Health Insurance Status of Colorado Adults” include:
- About 640,000 adults were uninsured in 2010, up from about 623,000 in 2008.
- The uninsured rate for adults varies dramatically by region - from a low of seven percent in Douglas County to a high of 27 percent in Adams County.
- Forty percent of the uninsured adults have annual incomes below 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), or about $29,000 for a family of four.
- Sixty-three percent of uninsured adults are employed.
Adults without dependent children (AwDCs) with incomes at or below the FPL, about $11,000 for an individual, have an uninsured rate of 41 percent, twice that of the average adult in the state. Within this group, CHI estimates that:
- Six in 10 (about 94,000) are male. In comparison, about 50 percent of Colorado’s adult population is male.
- The vast majority are single.
- More than a third are employed, either full- or part-time.
The fact sheet profiles AwDCs with incomes at or below the FPL who are expected to gain eligibility for Medicaid under the Colorado Health Care Affordability Act.
The data supplement includes uninsured rates, the number of working age parents who are eligible but not enrolled (EBNE) in Medicaid and the number of adults expected to become eligible for Medicaid due to state and federal health reform by county.