Over two-thirds of adults in Colorado delayed or went without health care over the past year because it was too expensive, a recent survey from the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative found.
In total, seven out of 10 Coloradans either went without care, became uninsured or struggled to pay medical bills due to high costs, even as the state works to enact policy around health care price transparency and savings.
“What we continue to hear from consumers is that this issue isn’t going away and that there is more to be done,” CCHI Deputy Director Adam Fox said during an Aug. 5 briefing with reporters.
CCHI is a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of consumers for improved health care access.
The survey, part of Healthcare Value Hub’s Consumer Healthcare Experience State Survey, included over 1,400 adults and was conducted online from March 26 to April 12. Researchers said the Colorado results are similar to ones in other states.
The top forgone types of care were missing a doctor’s visit, skipping dental care, cutting pills in half or skipping doses, and going without a recommended test or treatment.
The rate of delayed care and related affordability worry is highest among Hispanic Coloradans and people who make less than $75,000 per year. It is also highest in the metro Denver area, but is similarly seen in eastern and western Colorado.
“The reality is health care costs continue to rise,” Fox said. “As we’ve seen other areas of cost increase – whether that’s cost of living, housing, food – it just makes the health care affordability issue that much more prevalent in people’s minds because they’re having to make some really difficult decisions.”
One respondent told surveyors they could not afford HIV prevention treatment after an assault. Another shared that they need to replace multiple dental fillings but their insurance only covers the cost for one. Someone else said they are putting off a medical test because they are worried about the treatment cost implications if it comes back positive. One respondent who is covered by Health First Colorado wrote that they “avoid medical care in general” because of the unexpected costs.
Colorado lawmakers have passed various health care price transparency and savings measures in recent years, including a 2023 law that requires Medicare rates to be posted on a hospital’s website and another that limits when a hospital can charge facility fees.
The survey found bipartisan support for several transparency policies, such as requiring drug companies to notify and justify price increases, requiring the government to show what a procedure’s fair price should be and price caps on certain lifesaving medications.
“We’ve done a lot of work at the state level to put in a variety of reforms,” Fox said. “The election may determine what can be accomplished at the state and federal level, and that’s going to shape the policy priorities.”
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