Beginning in 2014, nearly all Colorado children will be required to have health insurance. While the vast majority (over 90%) of Colorado kids already have insurance, the latest data from the 2011 American Community Survey suggest that about 125,000 (or 9.7%) are uninsured.
Of these kids, nearly three-quarters (71 percent) are eligible for public health insurance programs but not enrolled, according to the latest CHI analyses. Of these 125,000 children, about 39,000 are EBNE in Medicaid and 50,000 are EBNE in CHP+.
The number of kids EBNE in Medicaid fell to 39,000 in 2011 from 42,000 in 2010, though the change was not statistically significant. The number of kids EBNE in CHP+ increased, though that is due to a change in the way our CHP+ EBNE estimates are calculated (see below.)
The number of insured children also decreased, from 132,000 in 2010 to 125,000 in 2011, though this change was also not statistically significant.
Each year, CHI publishes estimates of the number of kids who are eligible but not enrolled (EBNE) in both Medicaid and the Child Health Plan Plus. The latest estimates, using data from 2011, are available here in three new publications:
- A fact sheet that summarizes the high-level findings and maps county-level EBNE estimates.
- A data supplement that includes detailed tables of county-level EBNE data.
- A methodology document for those who are interested in the assumptions and processes we used to create the estimates.
New this year is a change in the way we defined EBNE in CHP+. In May 2010, the Colorado Health Care Affordability Act expanded CHP+ eligibility to children in families with incomes up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level. Because of this change, CHI’s definition of CHP+ EBNE now includes children in families with incomes up to 250 percent of FPL. This expansion of CHP+ eligibility helps explain the increase in the number of children EBNE in CHP+ between 2010 and 2011. (For more details on this change, please see page 8 of the Data Supplement.)