Following the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, all Medicaid clients had to go through a redetermination process – this is referred to as the Medicaid Unwind. In Colorado, this resulted in hundreds of thousands of Coloradans losing their health coverage, many for procedural reasons such as missed deadlines and processing errors. This independent analysis considered the economic impact of the Medicaid Unwind and found that disenrollments of those otherwise eligible for coverage results in a smaller Colorado economy, reduced household earnings and fewer jobs than had the coverage continued uninterrupted.
This report builds upon previous analyses that considered the positive impact of the Medicaid Expansion under the Affordable Care Act on Colorado’s Economy.