State Information: Colorado
This state-specific page on Colorado provides new materials published by Families USA, key health contacts, state government links, news and views from the state, and other resources that might be helpful to Colorado advocates. Click on the links below to view the information you are interested in.
Key Health Contacts
Colorado Center on Law and Policy
789 Sherman St., #300
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303) 573-5669
Fax: 303-573-4947
Website: http://www.cclponline.org/
Colorado Children's Campaign
1120 Lincoln Street, Suite 125
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: 303-839-1580
Fax: 303-839-1354
Email: info@coloradokids.org
Website: http://www.coloradokids.org/
Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved
P.O. Box 18877
Denver, CO 80218
Phone: 303-832-7727
Email: gvanderark@aol.com
Website: www.ccmu.org
Colorado Consumer Health Initiative
1536 Wynkoop, Suite 101
Denver, CO 80202
Phone: 303-839-1261
Fax: 303-839-1263
Email: carrie@cohealthinitiative.org
Website: www.cohealthinitiative.org
The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative is a statewide nonprofit organization that is dedicated to increasing access to quality, affordable health care for all. The initiative also works to educate Coloradans about health care; build a strong, diverse coalition so consumers can have a more powerful voice; and strengthen and support patient protections.
Colorado Coucil of Churches
3690 Cherry Creek S. Drive
Denver, CO 80209
Colorado Covering Kids and Families
600 Grant St., Suite 800
Denver, CO 80203
Colorado Cross Disability Coalition
655 Broadway, Suite 775
Denver, CO 80203-3474
Phone: 303-839-1775
Fax: 303-839-1782
Email: info@ccdconline.org
Website: http://www.ccdconline.org/
The Colorado Cross Disability Coalition is a statewide organization dedicated to system change. Their goal is full participation of all persons with all types of disabilities in all areas of community living. Medicaid and health care issues are a major focus of the coalition's work. They also do ADA testing, sponsor a tenant's alliance, host community events, and have a rural organizing program.
Colorado Multi-Ethnic Cultural Consortium
4130 Tejon St., Suite A
Denver, CO 80211
Colorado Progressive Coalition
1420 Ogden Street, Suite 107
Denver, CO 80218-1910
Phone: 303-866-0908
Fax: 303-832-6416
Email: cpc@progressivecoalition.org
Website: www.progressivecoalition.org
Colorado Progressive Coalition is a statewide, multiracial, multi-issue coalition of 3,000 individuals and 35 civil rights, labor, and religious organizations united for racial justice, health care for all, public school reform, and voting rights.
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State Government Links
State of Colorado Website
State Division of Insurance Website
Visit the Health Care Policy & Financing page of the state's website for more information on Medicaid-related issues.
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Other Resources
Progress in Implementing Selected Medicaid Provisions of the Affordable Care Act: A 10-State Analysisassesses state progress with modernizing eligibility and enrollment systems, integrating payment for dual eligibles, expanding Medicaid early, and implementing the basic health program. It focuses on experiences in 10 states: AL, CO, MD, MI, MN, NM, NY, OR, RI, and VA. (November 2012) [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute]
Plan Participation in Health Insurance Exchanges: Implications for Competition and Choice considers how competition among insurance plans is likely to play out in 10 states: AL, CO, MD, MI, MN, NM, NY, OR, RI, and VA. It finds that states are more likely to experience effective competition in their exchange if they have multiple insurers with a significant market share and the ability to negotiate with providers. (September 2012) [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute]
State Progress in Implementing Health Insurance Exchanges: Results from 10 State Analyses describes the status of exchange development in 10 states: AL, CO, MD, MI, MN, NM, NY, OR, RI, and VA. Because the Affordable Care Act allows for a great deal of flexibility in exchange design, states are developing exchanges with a variety of goals and characteristics. The report includes a table that outlines key differences among the 10 featured states. (September 2012) [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute]
Worry No More: Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions Are Protected by the Health Care Law provides estimates of how many people will be protected from discrimination based on their health status thanks to the health care law. For the first time, the state reports include county-level data, and they include state-level data that are broken down by age, income, and racial or ethnic group. (July-August 2012) [Families USA]
Being a Woman Just Got a Little Easier: How the Affordable Care Act Benefits Women outlines what women stand to gain under the Affordable Care Act. (July 2012) [Families USA]
Dying for Coverage: The Deadly Consequences of Being Uninsured estimates the number of Americans who are dying prematurely due to lack of health coverage. It includes state-level data that are broken down by week, month, and year that were generated using the methodology originally developed by the Institute of Medicine. (June 2012) [Families USA]
Decoding Your Health Insurance: The New Summary of Benefits and Coverage provides national and state-level data on the nearly 173.5 million people with private insurance who will be helped by these plain-language summaries that are required by the health care law. (May 2012) [Families USA]
Good Business Sense: The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit in the Affordable Care Act provides national and state-level estimates of the number of small businesses that will be eligible for this tax credit and of how much the credits will be worth. It also includes data on how many workers could benefit as a result, broken down according to racial and ethnic group. (May 2012) [Families USA and Small Business Majority]
States and the Affordable Care Act is a series of state reports that analyze the effects of the Affordable Care Act on coverage, health expenditures, affordability, access, and premiums. It also assesses state’s progress with implementation of the law. The reports examine the following states: CO, MD, NY, OR, and RI. (April 2012) [Urban Institute]
Republican Presidential Primaries: Health Care and the 2012 Colorado Caucuses looks at Republicans' plans for health care and how they would harm the health and health care of all Coloradans, whether old, young, or working-age. (January 2012) [Families USA]
The Bottom Line: How the Affordable Care Act Helps America's Families shows the net financial effects of the Affordable Care Act on family budgets. We found that lower- and middle-income families, both uninsured and insured, will be financial winners. | State Reports (October 2011) [Families USA]
Medicaid's Impact in the States: Helping People with Serious Health Care Needs examines how vital Medicaid is for residents with cancer, diabetes, chronic lung disease, or heart disease or stroke. For these people, Medicaid can be the difference between life and death, and program cuts would put them at risk. Released in partnership with three other groups. (September 2011) [Families USA]
Proposed Models to Integrate Medicare and Medicaid Benefits for Dual Eligibles: A Look at the 15 State Design Contracts Funded by CMS summarizes states’ preliminary proposals to better coordinate care for people who are enrolled in both programs. The 15 states are as follows: CA, CO, CT, MA, MI, MN, NC, NY, OK, OR, SC, TN, VT, WA, WI. (August 2011) [Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured]
Jobs at Risk: Federal Medicaid Cuts Would Harm State Economies provides state-level data that show the devastating impact the House Republican budget proposal would have. The proposal's substantial Medicaid cuts would harm program enrollees and their families and lead to a loss of business activity and jobs in all states. | Calculator (June 2011) [Families USA]
Cutting Medicaid in the States: Harming Seniors and People with Disabilities Who Need Long-Term Care provides state-specific numbers on how many people would be affected by cuts to Medicaid long-term care spending, as well as how Medicaid helps families, state workers, and businesses. (May 2011) [Families USA]
House Republicans Propose to Slash Funding for Medicaid, Medicare, and Other Health Coverage Programs takes a closer look at how the recent budget proposal would harm seniors, children, and state economies, including state-specific numbers. (April 2011) [Families USA]
States Are Benefitting from Provisions of the Affordable Care Act lists the number of people in each state who are already benefiting from each of five provisions. The provisions include measures that are helping small businesses provide coverage to their workers, helping seniors get free preventive care, and protecting children with pre-existing conditions. | Table (March 2011) [Families USA]
Protecting Seniors and People with Disabilities: Why It Is Important to Preserve the Maintenance of Effort Requirement in the Affordable Care Act discusses how stripping the maintenance of effort requirement from the ACA will have negative consequences for the many people who depend on Medicaid by allowing states to change eligibility requirements. (February 2011) [Families USA]
Worry Less Spend Less: Out-of-Pocket Spending Caps Protect America's Families examines how the Affordable Care Act will protect insured people from high medical costs through new caps on out-of-pocket spending. It provides state-level estimates of how many residents will have spending that exceeds these caps and by how much, and it looks at how many of those residents work for small businesses. (February 2011) [Families USA]
Rate Review: Spotlight on State Efforts to Make Health Insurance More Affordable provides the results of a survey of 50 state rate review statutes and follow-up interviews with insurance regulators in 10 states (AK, CT, CO, ID, LA, ME, OH, PA, SC, and WI) to find out how rate regulation works in practice. (December 2010) [Kaiser Family Foundation]
How States Are Making Sure Coverage Is Available to Children notes that, under health reform, insurers are required to accept children regardless of any pre-existing conditions in all group plans and in newly sold individual plans, and it examines what several states are doing to make sure that child-only policies are still available. (October 2010) [Families USA]
How Health Reform Helps Communities of Color is a series of state-based fact sheets that discuss how provisions in the Affordable Care Act--both those for the general public and those specifically designed to eliminate health disparities--help communities of color in each state. (September-October 2010) [Families USA]
Lower Taxes, Lower Premiums: The New Health Insurance Tax Credit examines how this tax credit will help both insured and uninsured Americans. It provides data on the number of people eligible, the total dollars available, and on how it will help working families in particular. (September 2010) [Families USA]
A Helping Hand for Small Businesses: Health Insurance Tax Credits analyzes the health reform provision that provides tax credits to small employers to help them buy health coverage for their workers. This report, which was commissioned along with Small Business Majority, provides national and state-level data on the number of small businesses eligible for the credit in 2010, as well as the number eligible for the maximum tax credit. (July 2010) [Families USA]
State-Based Advocacy As a Tool for Expanding Children’s Coverage: Lessons from Site Visits to Six IAC Grantee States presents key findings from six states (AR, CO, IA, OH, TX, WA) that received grants from the Insuring America’s Children: States Leading the Way (IAC) program, which supports state advocates working to expand children’s health coverage in 16 states. The report details effective strategies used by advocates in each state according to the state’s political and economic climate, providing a roadmap for advocates around the country working to expand children’s health coverage. (July 2010) [Center for Studying Health System Change, Mathematica, and the Urban Institute]
Strategic Engagement of Policymakers Is Key to Advancing a Children’s Health Care Coverage Policy Agenda looks at how children’s health advocates in seven states (AR, CO, IA, OH, RI, TX, and WA) established strong relationships with policy makers in order to move their agendas forward. These advocates’ experiences provide useful lessons for other advocates pursuing expansions in health coverage in their state. (July 2010) [Center for Studying Health System Change, Mathematica, and the Urban Institute]
Health Reform: New Opportunities for States to Invest in Home- and Community-Based Services is a series of state-specific fact sheets that explore the new options for states to expand home- and community-based services through the health reform law and the reasons why expanding this type of services is a good idea. (Summer 2010) [Families USA]
Health Reform: Help for Coloradoans with Pre-Existing Conditions discusses how, under health reform, no one will be denied coverage, charged a higher premium, or sold a policy that excludes coverage of essential benefits because of pre-existing conditions. The report presents the number of state residents with diagnosed pre-existing conditions who, absent reform, would be at risk of being denied coverage in the individual insurance market. It breaks down this number by age, income, and race. | National Report (May 2010) [Families USA]
How Health Reform Helps the People of Colorado looks at the many benefits that health reform will bring to the state, including cracking down on insurance company abuses, ending runaway premiums, and providing financial security. (May 2010) [Families USA]
Health Coverage in Colorado: How Will Health Reform Help? discusses the major gaps in Colorado's health coverage system and how health reform will address these gaps and help Coloradans, including the insured, the uninsured, people in Medicare, and small businesses. (March 2010) [Families USA]
Lives on the Line: The Deadly Consequences of Delaying Health Reform examines what would happen if Congress fails to pass health reform. Specifically, it provides national and state-level estimates of the number of deaths that would occur due to lack of health coverage if reform doesn't pass. It also quantifies how many Americans died due to lack of health coverage since the last effort to pass reform in 1994. (March 2010) [Families USA]
Guide to Finding Health Coverage: Colorado Millions of Americans have no health insurance, and finding health insurance can be difficult. If you are looking for coverage, this guide can help point the way. Whether you have recently lost your job, are an early retiree, or have a serious medical condition, this guide includes numerous resources that may help you find the coverage you need. (Updated 2009) [Families USA]
The Uninsured: A Closer Look–Coloradans without Health Insurance examines how many state residents were uninsured during 2007-2008. The report also takes a closer look at the number of uninsured, who they are, and how long they were uninsured. It mirrors the data in our national report, Americans at Risk: One in Three Uninsured. (April 2009) [Families USA]
Colorado State Expansions visit here for archival information on expansions within the state. (Last updated 2009) [Families USA]
Premiums versus Paychecks: A Growing Burden for Colorado's Workers. The impact of changes in employer-based health insurance premiums and earnings in Colorado. (September 2008) [Families USA]
Bad Medicine: The President's Medicaid Regulations Will Weaken Colorado's Economy States are facing a recession and reduced revenues. In 2007, the Bush Administration issued seven new regulations that together will strip an estimated $50 billion in federal funds from states over the next five years. These state-specific reports quantify the harm that these regulations will cause to state economies in terms of lost federal dollars, business activity, jobs, and wages. (April 2008) [Families USA]
Dying for Coverage in Colorado For the more than 47 million Americans who are uninsured, lack of health insurance can have dire consequences: medical debt, missed care, and even premature death. This first-ever state-specific report examines the number of deaths due to lack of health insurance. (March 2008) [Families USA]
Too Great a Burden: Colorado's Families at Risk finds that more and more Colorado families are spending a substantial share of their incomes on health care costs, and most of these families have insurance. Faced with high health care costs and tight budgets, families are turning to credit cards to finance their care, and many are falling into medical debt. (December 2007) [Families USA]
SCHIP Reauthorization: What's at Stake for Colorado? New state-specific reports show how much money Colorado could gain from SCHIP Reauthorization and what that money would mean Colorado's economy. (May 2007) [Families USA]
When an Apple A Day Isn't Enough: Students in Colorado Speak Out about Health Care contains the winning essays from the "When an Apple a Day Isn't Enough" national essay contest as well as basic information about why health insurance matters for children. [Campaign for Children's Health Care]
Connecting Care & Health for Colorado: A Proposal to Expand State Coverage by the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative is a state proposal that addresses the problems of the uninsured, the underinsured, and the high cost of health care to individuals and businesses in Colorado designed in collaboration with Community Catalyst and Families USA (April 2007) [Colorado Consumer Health Initiative]
Guide to Finding Health Insurance Coverage: Millions of Americans have no health insurance, and finding health insurance can be difficult. If you are looking for coverage, this guide can help point the way. Whether you have recently lost your job, are an early retiree, or have a serious medical condition, this guide includes numerous resources that may help you find the coverage you need. (Updated March 2007) [Families USA]
No Shelter from the Storm: Colorado's Uninsured Children. This fact sheet takes a closer look at uninsured children in Colorado—who they are and what kinds of services they miss out on as a result of being uninsured. Written by Families USA for the Campaign for Children's Health Care. (September 2006) [Families USA]
The Colorado Welfare Reform Web site focuses on welfare reform issues in the state. The Health Issues page of the site offers information on Medicaid-related issues. [The University of Colorado]
NACHRI, in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), has released 2005 updates of their state-specific Medicaid fact sheets. These fact sheets detail the importance of the Medicaid program to the health care of children in every state, as well as the critical role children's hospitals and pediatricians play in serving all children. Click here for a map that will take you to information specific to your state. (July 2005) [National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI)]
Paying a Premium: The Added Cost of Care for the Uninsured in Colorado: A fact sheet with state-level data showing the dollar impact on private health insurance premiums of care provided to the uninsured. (June 2005) [Families USA]
Medicaid Cuts Are Bad Medicine: This fact sheet describes how Medicaid helps your state's economy, supports the state's health care infrastructure, provides essential health care to the most vulnerable residents, and reduces the number of uninsured. (January 2005) [Families USA]
The Uninsured: A Closer Look: A fact sheet with state-level data from One in Three: Non-Elderly Americans without Health Insurance, 2002-2003. (June 2004) [Families USA]
Good Medicine for State Economies, 2004 Update: Medicaid provides essential health care services for an estimated 51 million people of all ages and economic classes. Medicaid also plays a unique role in stimulating state economies. This report provides national and state-level data on the effects of Medicaid spending on state business activity, employment, and employee earnings. These updated numbers can be used to predict the economic impact of potential state Medicaid spending increases or cuts in fiscal year 2005.| Medicaid Calculator with updated figures (May 2004) [Families USA]
Who's Uninsured in Colorado and Why? is a four-page fact sheet providing information on the uninsured population in the state -- their numbers and characteristics and some of the reasons they are uninsured. (November 2003) [Families USA]
Families USA has prepared state fact sheets that spell out the different amounts of help the House and Senate Medicare prescription drug bills would provide to low-income beneficiaries. Click here for this state's fact sheet. (July 2003) [Families USA]
Children's Eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP: A View from 2000presents estimates of Medicaid and SCHIP eligibility for children up to age 17 using the eligibility rules in place as of July 2000. The results are based on data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families. The Survey found that eligibility varied tremendously across states, and the brief includes state-specific data for 13 states: AL, CA, CO, FL, MA, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NY, TX, WA, WI. (March 2002) [The Urban Institute]
Recent Changes in Health Policy for Low-Income People in Colorado Through interviews with state officials, consumers, and health care providers, as well as reviews of health care publications and Web sites, this report describes how Colorado finances health care, specifically with regards to Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. (March 2002) [The Urban Institute]
Health Care Access for Uninsured Adults: A Strong Safety Net Is Not the Same as Insurance examines the extent to which differences in the safety-net environment account for differences in access to and use of health care by the uninsured. The brief draws on representative samples of the population from 13 states (AL, CA, CO, FL, MA, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NY, TX, WA, WI) and focuses on low-income adults and on residents of metropolitan areas. (January 2002) [The Urban Institute]
State Profiles of Health Insurance, Access, and Use is based on the 1999 National Survey of America's Families and provides basic state- and national-level data in easy-to-use tables. These tables break down the type of health insurance people have according to age, income, sex, race/ethnicity, family structure, family work status, firm size, and country of origin. Separate profiles for each of the 13 states studied (AL, CA, CO, FL, MA, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NY, TX, WA, and WI) also include characteristics of the uninsured, as well as a description of Medicaid and SCHIP enrollees. (January 2002) [The Urban Institute]
Assessing The New Federalism State Reports: Colorado is one of 13 states discussed in this report, which tracks the delivery of health and social services to low-income residents following changes in welfare law. [The Urban Institute]
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