Health Coverage Fair to Help Children, Pregnant Women 

A Jan. 10 fair in Fort Collins is designed to increase the healthcare coverage of children, pregnant women and others in Larimer County with little or no health insurance.

The Healthcare Coverage Fair will help families access free and low-cost health programs and services.

Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) cards will be issued to pregnant women and children who qualify for the programs. CHP+ is a Colorado public health insurance program for pregnant women and children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford private health insurance.

The fair will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Family Medicine Center, 1025 Pennock Place, in Pennock Plaza at Lemay and Riverside.

Larimer County reflects national trends that show at least 40 percent of Americans have little or no health insurance. CHP+ estimates that 7,635 children in Larimer County are eligible for its program. Of those children, only 2,899 are enrolled in CHP+.

Leslie Ayres, a behavioral health specialist for the Family Medicine Center, a Poudre Valley Hospital department where 35,000 patients with little or no health insurance are treated annually, said the inability of many Larimer Country residents to afford adequate insurance has adversely impacted the health of children and pregnant women in the county.

“This is a huge problem,” Ayres said.

Persons who attend the fair and intend to apply for healthcare coverage are asked to bring a birth certificate; a passport or photo identification; Social Security numbers, if available; and last month’s paycheck stubs for all members of the household.

Appointments can be made by calling (970) 495-8815 (English) or (970) 498-6754 (Spanish). Walk-ins without an appointment are also accepted. The fair is sponsored by CHP+, The Colorado Trust and Poudre Valley Hospital.