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Shakiera Farmer, a senior at Hopkinsville High School in Hopkinsville, Ky., talked with chef Jon Ashton during one of the traveling chef's school visits. Photo by Associated Press

A report released Tuesday by Families USA has found about 57,500 Coloradans lost health insurance in 2009 as unemployment rose.

Most people under 65 are insured through employers, so when job losses increase, so do insurance losses. Although the unemployed can take advantage of COBRA, a program in which someone can keep their insurance if they pay the full premium that had previously been paid mostly by the employer, the cost is usually too high. Same goes for finding an individual plan.

In the report, compiled with help from the Urban Institute, Families USA says the rise in unemployment in Colorado from 4.9 percent in 2008 to 7.4 percent this year, resulting in the more than 57,000 new uninsured. The number was based on a model that shows for every percentage point increase in unemployment there is a .59 percentage point increase in uninsured working-age adults. The figures for the uninsured came from Census data.

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