14,000 Insured Lose Health Coverage Every Day

Mike Hall, February 18, 2009 In December and January, as the nation’s unemployment rate shot upward—hitting 7.6 percent in January—the number of Americans without health insurance neared the 50-million mark. Some 14,000 people a day, nearly 100,000 a week, lost their health insurance during that two-month span, according to a forthcoming analysis by James Kvaal and Ben Furnas, reports the Center for American Progress’ Wonk Room. The growing number of working families that are losing their health care coverage highlights the need for swift action on comprehensive health care reform. The economic recovery package signed yesterday by President Obama offers a health care lifeline for jobless workers. Under the bill, workers who lose their jobs are eligible for a 65 percent subsidy to cover their health care premiums under COBRA for nine months. COBRA is the program that allows workers to maintain for 18 months the same coverage they had through their employer if they can pay the premiums. But those premiums often exceed $1,000 a month, a huge cost for an unemployed worker. The economic recovery bill originally provided broader help for jobless workers, including allowing workers to enroll in Medicaid if they couldn’t afford COBRA even with the new subsides and enabling older workers to remain in COBRA until they qualified for Medicare. But as the Wonk Room points out, negotiators seeking bipartisan support considered Republican objections and stripped those provisions. Still, only three Republicans voted for the stimulus bill. With the economy far from a quick turnaround and job losses continuing to mount, health care experts say the number of people without health insurance could grow to staggering levels—making health care reform even more critical. Says Ron Pollack, president of Families USA: The regrettable absence of the Medicaid coverage provision helps to underscore the importance of enacting meaningful health care reform in the very near future. With the adoption of the economic recovery legislation, it is time to start the health reform process so that legislative action can be completed this year. 1 comment catbear955 on 19.02.2009 One of my brothers’ long-time friends was diagnosed with lung cancer, and then laid off—this COBRA subsidy will definitely mean a better quality of life during this difficult time. from AFL-CIO NOW Blog FYI-Two of the Republican Senators are our own, Senator Olympia Snowe and Senator Susan Collins. The third Republican Senator is Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania.