Nita Schissell of Loveland faced bills totaling more than $20,000 for treatment of breast cancer even with a health insurance plan that pays 80 percent of costs. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post )

Nearly 1.1 million Coloradans will spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care next year — despite the fact that most of them have health insurance, according to a study released Thursday.

Ten percent is the cutoff most policy analysts use to determine who is "underinsured," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA and a study author.

"Insurance no longer offers the protection that American families need," said U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette of Denver, who participated with the advocacy group in a telephone news conference Wednesday.

"This is a sobering report and one we really need to stand up and take notice of," DeGette said.

About 300,000 Coloradans will spend even more on health care — a quarter of their family’s income — although three in four of those will have insurance, the report calculates.

For a household earning $52,000, the state’s median, that means $13,000 or more spent on premiums, co-pays and other health expenses. [Read the rest of this story]