Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
Search Saved

Colorado program

Buying state coverage for a child with a disability

A separate Health First Colorado route for a child with a qualifying disability, including children with private insurance.

What it is

A separate Health First Colorado route for a child with a qualifying disability, including children with private insurance.

A child with a qualifying disability may have a separate route to Health First Colorado even when ordinary child coverage does not fit. This route uses its own adjusted-income rules and can work alongside private insurance. Your social worker can help compare its possible premium, coverage and disability review with the other options.

Eligibility rules
  • A Colorado child under 19 must meet disability and other program rules. Eligibility does not depend on being above the CHP+ ceiling.
  • The county first knocks a third off your income, then compares it with 300% of poverty, so families earning up to about 450% of poverty can fit. There is no savings test.
  • If your employer offers family coverage and pays at least half of the premium, the program expects you to keep your child on it; the buy-in then sits behind it.
  • An employed teen age 16 through 18 may instead be assessed for the working-adults disability buy-in.
  • Acute lymphoblastic leukemia appears on Social Security's Compassionate Allowances list. Medical records, relapse, transplant and functioning matter; time since the original diagnosis alone does not decide disability.
What you get
  • Full Health First Colorado benefits, with a monthly premium from $0 to $120.
  • Coverage that can work behind another health plan.
What the coverage includes
  • The premium rises with adjusted income: nothing up to 133% of poverty, then $70, $90 and $120 a month up to 300%. For three people that is nothing under $3,028 a month and $120 above $5,693. (one bullet)
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask your social worker to compare the disability buy-in with other coverage and explain the PEAK and county application routes.
  2. Have your income and insurance information ready, and ask the oncology team to describe treatment and daily limitations.

PEAK, county human-services office or hospital financial counselor · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • PEAK or the county handles the coverage application. A separate disability application and medical records may be needed if an accepted disability decision is not available.
  • The usual eligibility-decision standard is 45 days, or 90 days when a disability decision is needed, with limited documented exceptions. Your social worker can help question a delay.
Good to know

This buys state coverage under its own income rules. It does not open HIBI premium help, which excludes Medicaid buy-in members.

Other details
  • Ordinary free child coverage may be the simpler choice when available, but the county can compare the routes. A $0 buy-in premium is possible.
  • The financial counselor can compare the premium, covered cancer team and extra billing work before you choose coverage.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could the disability buy-in cover our child if the ordinary income limit does not fit? What would we pay, what are the drawbacks, and could you help us decide whether to apply?”

Why I’m asking: I want another coverage option without committing to a premium we have not compared with our treatment costs.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Ask for the programme by name and ask for the income limits and premium in writing.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker knows which county worker handles these.

The care team

The oncology team writes what the child cannot do and what treatment involves.

Who decides
The county human-services office, after a disability decision.
Ask your social worker
“We are over the income line for ordinary coverage. Can you ask the county about the Children with Disabilities Buy-In Program, and what it costs us a month?”

How to apply

First step: Ask the county or the hospital financial counselor for the Children with Disabilities Buy-In Program by name.

  1. Ask the county by name for the Children with Disabilities Buy-In Program and for its current income limits and premium schedule in writing.
  2. Ask the oncology team to write the disability documentation while the child is in treatment.

Where it starts: Ask the county, or the hospital financial counselor, for the Children with Disabilities Buy-In Program by name.

What to gather

  • The oncology team's summary of the diagnosis and treatment
  • This month's household income

How long: The usual eligibility-decision standard is 45 days, or 90 days when a disability determination is needed, with limited documented exceptions.

What a yes looks like

A notice with a monthly premium and coverage dates.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask whether the no was on income or on the disability decision; they are appealed differently.

Watch out

  • The county applies the April 1, 2026 income and premium schedule; a limit from another coverage program does not decide this one.
  • This is a different thing from the premium help that pays a work-plan premium. A family on one is not on the other.

Dates that change this

2026-01-01: From April 1, 2026, the adjusted-income ceiling is 300% FPL and premiums are $0/$70/$90/$120. A 33% income disregard is part of the program method; the county decides the calculation. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Health First Colorado for a child under 19 with a qualifying disability, with monthly premiums from $0 to $120 under the April 1, 2026 schedule.

Covers: The full Health First Colorado benefit, including chemotherapy, prescriptions, home nursing and rides

Legal protection: Parents' income is not the end of the conversation: this is the route Colorado names when a household is over the ordinary line

What it costs the family: Monthly premium bands are $0, $70, $90 or $120, based on adjusted family income under the April 1, 2026 schedule.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
Under 19; employed teens ages 16–18 may have a working-adults buy-in route.
Income
Adjusted family income at or below 300% FPL, including the program income disregards; for three people the April 1, 2026 adjusted monthly ceiling is $6,830. No asset test.
Disability
A disability decision is required. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is named in the Social Security Compassionate Allowances list, which speeds that decision.
Residency
Colorado

The trap: The county applies the buy-in income method, including the published 33% disregard. The 300% FPL adjusted limit is not an exact gross-income limit and CHP+ income does not rule this route out.

Where I read this

← Back to your options