By Gretchen Hammer, Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved
The All Kids Covered Initiative in Colorado has been working together since 2006 to ensure that all children have access to adequate health coverage and high quality health care. At the time of our founding, it was estimated that 14 percent of children in Colorado were uninsured.
Over the last eight years, All Kids Covered has worked diligently on a strategy to make Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+), our state Child Health Insurance Program, work better for kids and families by removing known barriers and red tape. We have implemented presumptive eligibility for children and pregnant women, expanded coverage for children and pregnant women in CHP+ and parents in Medicaid, removed the Medicaid stairstep, eliminated the waiting period for enrollment in CHP+, and made many other critical changes.
These changes have made a real difference, and today it is estimated that eight percent of children in Colorado are uninsured. However, just like in 2006, a vast majority of the children without health insurance in Colorado today, are eligible for public health insurance coverage but not enrolled.
The implementation of the Affordable Care Act is giving Colorado new tools to address this ongoing challenge. In early April, the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, our state Medicaid agency, announced that 22,700 children who were previously eligible but not enrolled, have been enrolled between October 1, 2013 and February 28, 2014. The Department estimates that 14,450 new children enrolled in Medicaid and 8,250 new children in enrolled in CHP+. We estimate that this is a 28 percent reduction in the number of eligible but not enrolled children in Colorado. Yet, these numbers are early . We anticipate that even more previously eligible but not enrolled children will have obtained coverage during March, the last month of open enrollment in our state based marketplace.
In addition to the direct impact of increased enrollment of eligible children, the Affordable Care Act is providing Colorado with another key tool to increase coverage for kids. One of the earliest priorities for All Kids Covered was the implementation of 12 months of continuous eligibility. A 2009 state law allowed Colorado to implement 12 months continuous eligibility for children, but until now, financing has not been available. However, because of some unique financing mechanisms for Medicaid in Colorado, the expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act has allowed for financing to be available to implement 12 months continuous eligibility for children. Continuous eligibility was implemented on March 1, 2014 and we are hopeful that this change will lead to greater continuity of coverage for children, reducing gaps in coverage, improving their access to care and reducing administrative burden for families, providers and state agencies.
The race to get all children health insurance in Colorado has been a marathon, and while we are not at the finish line, yet, we are closer than ever before to reaching our vision of insured, thriving children in every Colorado community.
