Did You Lose Your Health Insurance Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic? You May Have Other Options

Liz Clausen never thought her husband would lose his job. He was the first full-time hire at the Austin-based startup where he worked as a programmer, and the economy was booming just a few months ago. Then the COVID-19 outbreak hit, and he was unexpectedly laid off at the end of March. When he lost his job, he lost his health insurance, too — and so did Clausen, a freelance writer who was on his plan. Suddenly, the couple — who had just bought their first house last April — faced the possibility of weathering a global pandemic without health insurance. Clausen’s story is all too familiar for millions of families across the country. As of May 2, nearly 27 million Americans could potentially lose their employer-based health insurance amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report published May 13. The numbers might be even higher: nearly 3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total number of people who’ve applied for unemployment over the past two months up to over a staggering 36 million, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. However, the Kaiser study found that around 12.7 million people who become uninsured after losing their job — nearly half the total — are eligible for Medicaid, while an additional 8.4 million people are eligible for subsidized plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. In total, 79% of people who are losing their employer-based insura...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Explainer News Desk UnitedWeRise20Disaster Source Type: news