(UNDATED) – Nearly 27 million Americans could lose their health insurance following job loss, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation report. This total includes people who lost their own employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) and those who lost dependent coverage when a family member lost a job and ESI.
This report comes as the unemployment rate soars in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the beginning of March, over 600,000 initial claims for unemployment insurance have been filed in Indiana. During the week ending on March 28, 139,174 initial claims were filed. The number of claims has gone down every week since then.
“Our mission is that all Hoosiers have accessible healthcare coverage,” said Susan Jo Thomas, the executive director of Covering Kids & Families of Indiana.
The non-profit provides free resources to help Hoosiers apply for healthcare coverage. She said there is a lull in the number of people coming in right now, but she expects services will pick up in June.
Thomas said most people they help get their health insurance through their employer.
“Those claims are from the employed person. What that doesn’t reflect is the employed person’s spouse or partner that is under that coverage,” she said.
If you are in this position, she suggests first checking with your employer to see if you can continue your insurance through COBRA.
“Were there any kind of benefit options through that employer?” she said.
The Kaiser Family Foundation report believes nearly half of the people who become uninsured after a job loss are eligible for Medicaid and an additional 8.4 million qualify for marketplace subsidies.
“Don’t assume that you don’t qualify. Assume that you do qualify for programs,” Thomas said.
For more information about Covering Kids & Families of Indiana, click here.
Information: FOX59 News, https://fox59.com/
