THE BIG PICTURE
Colorado has the largest net Medicaid enrollment decline in the country at 33.4%
MEDICAID ENROLLMENT 2023-2024
Source: KFF, Medicaid enrollment and unwinding tracker, Sept. 12, 2024
325,000 Coloradans were originally estimated to lose their health insurance between May 2023 and May 2024;
575,605 (1 out of three) Coloradans actually lost their health insurance between May 2023 and May 2024
FACTS WE CAN AGREE ON
Hundreds of thousands of Coloradans lost Medicaid coverage in 2024
Colorado’s net Medicaid enrollment loss and Colorado’s disenrollment rates are among the highest in the country
A significant portion of Coloradans who lost Medicaid coverage did so due to procedural reasons and, as a result, have lost health care benefits for which they are still eligible
Frontline providers in clinics and emergency rooms across our state are seeing significant increases in people who have lost their health insurance seeking care
ECONOMIC IMPACT
A 2016 analysis from The Colorado Futures Center found that Medicaid expansion under the ACA resulted in 1.14% more economic activity (GDP), 31,074 more jobs in the state’s economy and over $100,000,000 in additional General Fund tax revenue.
The current disenrollments resulting from the termination of continuous eligibility during the COVID public health emergency offsets more than half of the positive impact of expansion. The procedural disenrollments are estimated to result in a Colorado economy that is between 0.8 and 0.9 percent smaller, with just under 27,000 fewer jobs and a statewide earnings loss of just under $1.7 billion.