The main goal of the Affordable Care Act is to ensure that most Americans have access to adequate, affordable health insurance. The 2013 Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS) reveals that approximately 741,000 Coloradans – about one of seven residents - are without health insurance. The uninsurance rate of 14.3 percent compares with 15.8 percent in 2011 and 13.5 percent in 2009.
The 2013 rate is not a statistically significant change from either 2011 or 2009. Still, the CHAS findings suggest an improvement in coverage. They also suggest that an improving Colorado economy has not translated into significantly higher levels of health insurance coverage among Coloradans.
Of those with health insurance coverage, 59.0 percent get their coverage through an employer-sponsored plan. This is a slight increase from the 57.8 percent of Coloradans covered by employer plans in 2011, but is not a return to the 2009 level of 63.7 percent.
Public insurance programs – Medicare, Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) – cover 17.8 percent of Coloradans. This rate – nearly one of five Coloradans – was unchanged in 2013 after a jump of 3.7 percentage points between 2009 and 2011.
For more CHAS results and analysis, including more than 200 tabulated tables with data from all three surveys, visit our CHAS page.