The number of workers in Colorado grew between 1998 and 2003, but the percentage of those workers who had health insurance dropped during the same period, a new study has found.
In that five-year period, the average individual health- insurance premium in Colorado rose by nearly $1,200 – the eighth-highest increase in the nation.
The number of Colorado’s private-sector employees grew from 1.72 million to 1.88 million – more than 9 percent – from 1998 to 2003. In the same period, the percentage of workers enrolled in employer-offered health insurance dropped, also by 9 percent, according to a study released Thursday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The report’s release coincides with the annual “Cover the Uninsured Week,” aimed at promoting awareness of the nearly 46 million people who lack health insurance in the U.S.
The report found that 54 percent of people who lacked insurance in 2003-04 cited high cost as the main reason.
Also, from 1998 to 2003, the number of Colorado private- sector employers who offered health insurance dropped by 2 percent.
