By Joe Hanel/Colorado Health Institute
Health insurance for Coloradans remains steady after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the 2025 Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS), released Nov. 19 by the Colorado Health Institute (CHI).
The state’s uninsured rate stands at 5.9 percent, in line with pre-COVID years.
What has changed for many is how they get their coverage. Medicaid membership fell to 21 percent of the state, down from 30 percent in the 2023 survey, when a pandemic-related rule kept more people in the program. More than half of Coloradans (53.0 percent) had employer-sponsored insurance for the first time since 2019. And 6.7 percent are covered in the individual market, where cuts to federal subsidies are causing price increases in 2026.
The survey did not capture the effects of recent federal changes to Medicaid and private health insurance, which will not take effect until 2026 or 2027.
“Most states don’t have a data resource like the Colorado Health Access Survey,” said Sara Schmitt, president and CEO of CHI. “With federal and state policies in flux, it’s essential to have reliable, nonpartisan data to understand the experience of Coloradans. CHI is committed to providing this service through the CHAS, now and in the years to come.”
The CHAS provides the state’s best data on health, access to care and the social factors that affect health, including housing and food security.
The every-other-year survey samples about 10,000 households and has a record of data back to 2009. CHI makes the data free and available to the public. The large sample size allows questions to be analyzed by region, race, income and more.
This year’s CHAS includes Spanish-language components. Participants were able to take the survey in Spanish, and all accompanying materials will also be available in Spanish.
One notable finding is an improvement in mental health.
The percentage of Coloradans reporting eight or more days of poor mental health in the past month dropped to 20.5 percent. This improvement follows years of worsening results that peaked at 26.1 percent in the 2023 survey.
The survey also found that children and middle-aged adults are getting improved access to mental health care compared to 2023. And it is increasingly common for Coloradans to talk to health providers about their mental health, with 33.1 percent doing so in 2025.
While it tracks trends over time, the CHAS is responsive to emerging issues. New this year is a series of questions on loneliness.
The CHAS found that 22.1 percent of Coloradans answered the questions in a way that indicates they are lonely. The survey also found that lonely people were twice as likely to report poor general health (25.7 percent to 10.7 percent) and four times as likely to report poor mental health than people who were not lonely (48.6 percent to 11.7 percent).
“Health researchers and health service providers are increasingly recognizing the effects of social isolation on people’s health,” said Suman Mathur, CHI’s director of the CHAS. “The CHAS provides some much-needed local data on the problem of loneliness. The survey shows a stark connection between loneliness and not just mental health, but physical health, too.”
Other notable findings:
• While insurance can make health care more accessible, it doesn’t always make it more affordable: 27.3 percent of Coloradans with individual market insurance and 19.1 percent with employer-sponsored insurance could not afford general doctor care, specialist care or prescriptions they needed because of cost; 23.2 percent of insured Coloradans put off mental health care because of cost.
In the past year, a third of Coloradans had trouble paying for health care, housing or food — 27.5 percent put off health care due to cost; 11.3 percent had problems paying their rent or mortgage; and 10.5 percent ate less than they thought they should because they could not afford food.
Southwest Colorado data
The following data is specific to Colorado’s Region 9 — Dolores, Montezuma, La Plata, San Juan and Archuleta counties.
In southwest Colorado, 37.4 percent of respondents had employer-sponsored insurance, 17.9 percent are on Medicare, 23 percent had Medicaid/Child Health Plan Plus, 11.9 percent had individual insurance and 9.7 percent were uninsured.
The region also reported figures relating to affordability, with 15.1 percent not getting doctor care in the past 12 months due to cost (compared to 11.4 percent in the state), 13.6 reporting not getting specialty care (compared to 14.2 percent in the state), 12.5 percent reporting not getting prescriptions (compared to 12.3 percent in the state) and 21.2 percent reporting not getting dental care due to cost (compared to 18.1 percent in the state).
In southwest Colorado, 16.8 percent reported being in fair/poor health, compared to 13.9 percent at the state level.
The region largely matched the state in regard to mental health days, with 20.9 percent reporting eight or more days of poor mental health in the past month, and 12.5 percent reported they needed but didn’t get mental health care, compared to the state’s figure of 12.9 percent.
In the region, 9.9 percent reported they ate less than they thought they should in the past year because there wasn’t enough money for food.
A total of 26.0 percent in the region answered the questions in a way that indicates they are lonely.
Data and graphics by region are available to download on CHI’s website: colo.health/CHAS25.
About the survey
CHI contracted with NORC at the University of Chicago to field the survey from Feb. 11 to July 21.
NORC sent letters to a randomly selected list of Colorado addresses to find respondents for the survey. Respondents could take the survey online or call a toll-free number. One adult in each responding household answered the survey, and they could answer on behalf of a child or another adult in the household.
NORC recorded 10,922 responses. Statistical significance varies for each question.
The 2025 CHAS data workbooks include 95 percent confidence intervals. CHI researchers can help determine the statistical accuracy of any comparisons in the data.
Sponsors
Major funding for the CHAS comes from the Colorado Health Foundation and the Colorado Trust. Other funders and question sponsors include the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, Colorado Springs Health Foundation and Colorado Gives Foundation.
A complete list of funders is available on the survey website. Survey sponsors have no influence over how the survey is conducted or analyzed.
About CHI
CHI strengthens communities and systems with trusted analysis and collaborative solutions to improve health.
We work to improve the systems that influence people’s health and well-being. We work with people seeking to make those systems more effective and equitable. We answer critical questions, make sense of complex issues and support others to reach actionable solutions.
Our services include research, evaluation, facilitation and communications.