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Open Society Institute

First complete snapshot of Great Recession underscores the importance of Medicaid

Data the U.S. Census Bureau released today examine health insurance, poverty and income. Because of small sample sizes, two-year averages must be used, diminishing the magnitude of changes. Still, numbers for 2008-09 — the first two-year window to cover the Great Recession entirely — are noteworthy. Here’s a snapshot of the figures for Colorado:

Key health insurance facts

In Colorado in 2008-09:

  • 17.3 percent of Coloradans younger than 65 — or roughly three-quarters of a million people — did not have health insurance. The number included 134,500 kids. (Coloradans older than 65 are eligible for Medicare.)
  • More than one out of five children relied on Medicaid for health insurance. That represents 265,000 kids in Colorado, a number that has almost doubled since the beginning of the decade.
  • The majority of children and adults (younger than 65) received health insurance from employers. However that number continues to decline.

 

Key income and poverty facts

In Colorado in 2008-09:

  • More than one in 10 individuals had incomes of less than the poverty level ($10,830 in annual income for an individual and $22,050 for a family of four). That represents 613,000 Coloradans.
  • The median household income in Colorado was $58,321. That is substantially higher than the national median income, $49,945 in 2008-09.
 

Contact: Alec Harris
Policy analyst
303-573-5669, ext. 304

Released Sept. 16, 2010
Read the accompanying news release

 

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