The health care crisis in America produces some staggering statistics: an estimated 45 million Americans have no health insurance coverage and tens of millions more lack sufficient coverage to pay for vital care and medications.

In Colorado, about 785,000 residents – 17 percent of the state’s population – lacked health insurance coverage in 2007. And that was before the bottom fell out of the economy, throwing thousands more people into unemployment and financial uncertainty.

Health care reform is expected to be one of the hot-button issues confronting Congress and state legislatures, as lawmakers grapple with issues of justice and fairness mindful of the fact that their actions have very real life-and-death consequences for thousands of people. An estimated 18,000 adults die annually from lack of health coverage, even while U.S. spending on health care exceeds $6,000 per person per year.

Colorado’s Jubilee Ministries often find themselves called on to help bridge this chasm.

Jubilee Ministries in Colorado – a network of 22 outreach ministries either sponsored by the diocese, based at Episcopal parishes, or ecumenical organizations that rely heavily on Episcopal support – are part of the national church’s social justice effort. When it comes to health care, that effort takes a number of different forms – from providing direct health care services to the poor to advocating for more compassionate public policy to providing financial and emotional assistance to families whose lives have been disrupted by illness.

Here’s a look at what some of Colorado’s Jubilee Ministries are doing to help meet the health care needs of the poor.

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