The Colorado Health Foundation recently hosted a deep dive briefing on the health care findings from the 2026 Pulse Poll, joined by special guest Ross Brooks, CEO of the Colorado Community Health Network.

Health care is not a new storyline for the Pulse Poll. We’ve been asking Coloradans about the cost of care since 2021, and every year it has climbed on the list of serious problems. This year though, concern reached a new high: 82% said the cost of health care is an extremely or very serious problem, up seven points from 2025 and up 17 points from the first year we conducted the poll. Additionally, nearly two-thirds (65%) said their family’s costs have increased over the past year.

Alongside the health care cost questions we ask each year, we added a new set of questions in 2026 about health care access: whether people can find care where they live and how they feel about the care they receive. The short summary of what we found is this:  most Coloradans can access care and are generally satisfied with the care they receive, but paying for it remains a significant challenge.

What we learned about access: 

  • 68% say it is easy to find or obtain physical health care for themselves or their family in their community. About three in 10 (31%) say it’s difficult. 
  • Satisfaction is strong about many aspects of the care experience — 77% are satisfied with how far they have to travel to see a provider, 75% with the quality of care they receive, and 74% with how providers and staff treat them and their families. 
  • Coloradans are slightly less satisfied with being able to see a provider when they need one, with 64% reporting satisfaction.  Just 50% are satisfied with how long they have to wait for an appointment. 
  • Out-of-pocket costs - including co-pays and deductibles, - stand out as the biggest challenge. Only 36% are satisfied and 60% are dissatisfied with out-of-pocket costs. It’s the only aspect around health care access that we tested where dissatisfaction outweighs satisfaction. 

Beyond the statewide numbers, there were some interesting differences based on where Coloradans live. On the Eastern Plains, only 59% are satisfied with how far they have to travel for care — the lowest of any region and well behind the 83% reported in Colorado Springs. At the same time, Eastern Plains residents are the most satisfied with out-of-pocket costs (59%), nearly double the satisfaction reported in the Denver metro area (31%).

“Coloradans are telling us something important: they generally value the care they receive, but the cost of that care is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. When families are worried about losing coverage, delaying treatment, or struggling to afford deductibles and co-pays, affordability becomes just as important as access,” said Ross Brooks during the briefing. 

Cost pressure shows up as delayed care

Satisfaction with a doctor’s visit doesn’t mean much if you never make an appointment. In the past 12 months: 

  • 37% of Coloradans postponed medical care and 38% postponed dental care. Combined, almost half (48%) put off one or the other. 
  • 29% also postponed mental health care. 
  • 42% are worried that they or someone in their household will be without health insurance coverage in the year ahead. That’s the highest we’ve recorded in the poll’s history, up from 27% in 2020. 

The concern about losing coverage is not evenly distributed across the population. Among Latino Coloradans it jumped 11 points in a single year, from 42% in 2025 to 53% in 2026 — the largest increase among the groups we track. 

Mental health strain underscores many of these challenges. Three in five Coloradans (59%) say they experienced mental health strain such as anxiety, depression, loneliness or stress in the past year. Those Colordans postpone care at much higher rates — 52% put off medical care, 51% dental care, and 47% mental health care. When asked what contributed most to their mental strain, they most often point to political issues (28%) and financial issues (25%). 

Dive deep into the data

If you’d like to learn more about this briefing or the 2026 Pulse Poll, explore these resources:

More information will continue to be added to www.copulsepoll.org.

If you have questions or would like to request a Pulse briefing, please reach out to Katie Peshek at kpeshek@coloradohealth.org.