MEDICADE

doing the eligibility re-evaluations.

Kim Bimestefer, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which administers Medicaid in the state, said her department currently estimates there are 325,000 people who are currently covered by Medicaid who will no longer be eligible.

e department and a bunch of other state agencies and health care organizations are now focused on making sure those folks maintain coverage by connecting them to other options.

“Everybody is working together in a collaborative, collective, meaningful way to help keep Coloradans covered,” Bimestefer said. “One of the most important things we can do is make sure people have a ordable access to the care they need.” e disenrollments won’t happen all at once. Instead, it will be a gradual process playing out over the next year. e state began sending renewal notices to the rst wave of Medicaid members last month. Once people receive their renewal notices, they will have about 60 days to complete the paperwork before their renewal deadlines. at means the rst disenrollments will start happening in May. e process will continue monthly through April 2024 until everyone in the program has had an eligibility redetermination. e most important thing for Med- icaid members to do now is to update their contact information with the program. at will ensure that they receive the renewal paperwork — and also make sure that everyone who is still eligible for Medicaid remains covered.

Some people — about a third of those covered by Medicaid, Bimestefer said — will be automatically renewed and won’t have to take any further action. ose folks will be noti ed of their auto-renewal about two months before their renewal date.

People who are no longer eligible for Medicaid will need to nd other coverage options. For most, that will mean buying a private health insurance plan or checking with their workplace to see if they are eligible for employer-sponsored coverage.

“People need to act,” said Patrick Gordon, the CEO of insurance company Rocky Mountain Health Plans. “Please don’t wait.” is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media. basketball players. Athletes in other sports will receive money later this year. e average U.S. family pays about $900 each year for one child’s primary sport, taking into account equipment costs, monthly fees, participation fees and travel expenses.

Chance Sports “is designed to help increase participation and to help supplement the costs for travel, fees and equipment,” said Rodney Bates, who has coached the Lady Blackhawks girls’ basketball team for 14 years, and overall has 24 years as a coach.

“It allows young ladies in my program to have the opportunity to showcase their talent at a national level,” Bates said. “In some households, college is not a conversation because of the costs. But because of their skill and being able to demonstrate this at a national level, they have a chance to get a scholarship and follow aspirations beyond sports. In the last 13 years, we’re talking about hundreds of young ladies playing year-round.”

His rst group of players were in the fourth grade when he formed the team. ey graduated from high school in 2020.

“We have about 15 young ladies that went to college,” Bates said. “We want to give them the tools they need to go to college. Competitive basketball is very expensive. If we can break down that cost, more participate and the more we’ll see them do something really positive.” e bene ts? Larson pointed out that being involved in sports can help boost GPAs, can contribute to better mental and physical health, closer friendships, high rates of volunteerism and voting in later years. ere’s talk about spreading the program throughout the state and eventually to other states.

“Our vision is to help out the kid that wants a chance to play,” Coleman said. “I know at some point we wanted to scale our organization, but do it right. Take care of home rst.”

To learn more about Chance Sports, visit chancesports.org.