SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A hospital room is prepared at a temporary hospital in Central Park on March 30, 2020 in New York City. (Photo: John Lamparski/Getty Images)
'Drop the Medicare Eligibility Age to 0 Right Now': Study Warns 35 Million Could Lose Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
"The national health insurance system is crumbling more with every day that passes."
Apr 03, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic collapse could cause a staggering 35 million people in the U.S. to lose their employer-sponsored health insurance over the next several months, with lower-income Americans bearing the brunt of the damage.
That's according to a report (pdf) released Friday by the research and consulting firm Health Management Associates (HMA). The new analysis warns that, depending on the severity of U.S. job losses, "the number of people receiving coverage from an employer could decline by 12 to 35 million, including both workers and family members."
"For all the abstracted talk over the last year about health insurance churn, we are likely about to see it on an unprecedented scale in terms of velocity and devastation."
--Jeff Stein, Washington Post
The worst-case scenario presented in the report projects a U.S. unemployment rate of 25%--equal to the jobless rate at the peak of the Great Depression. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis predicted last month that the unemployment rate could reach 32% by the end of June.
"For all the abstracted talk over the last year about health insurance churn, we are likely about to see it on an unprecedented scale in terms of velocity and devastation," Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein tweeted, referring to the policy debate that emerged in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary over whether the employer-sponsored healthcare system gives people more "choice" than a universal alternative like Medicare for All.
While many people who lose their coverage will be eligible to enroll in Medicaid, the HMA report notes that "one-third of all jobs" are located in states that have opted not to expand the program.
As a result, the report warns, the total number of uninsured Americans could rise from around 28 million today to 40 million, with the impact disproportionately falling on the millions of people living in states that have not expanded Medicaid.
"We need to drop the Medicare eligibility age to 0 right now," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a vocal supporter of Medicare for All, tweeted in response to the new study.
"Good-quality health care should not be tied to your job," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a Democratic presidential candidate, in response to the new report. "At a minimum, the government must ensure health care for all, without cost, for the duration of this crisis."
As Common Dreams reported, the Economic Policy Institute estimated Thursday that 3.5 million people have likely already lost their employer-provided insurance over just the last two weeks as the coronavirus pandemic continues to drive mass layoffs across the U.S. The Department of Labor announced Thursday that 6.6 million people filed jobless claims last week alone.
Ryan Cooper, national correspondent for The Week, wrote in a column Friday that "thanks to America's uniquely boneheaded insistence on tying health insurance to employment," the U.S. healthcare system "is in very real danger of collapsing altogether" without immediate and sweeping action from Congress.
"Whatever it is, it needs to be big, and it needs to happen yesterday," wrote Cooper. "The national health insurance system is crumbling more with every day that passes."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic collapse could cause a staggering 35 million people in the U.S. to lose their employer-sponsored health insurance over the next several months, with lower-income Americans bearing the brunt of the damage.
That's according to a report (pdf) released Friday by the research and consulting firm Health Management Associates (HMA). The new analysis warns that, depending on the severity of U.S. job losses, "the number of people receiving coverage from an employer could decline by 12 to 35 million, including both workers and family members."
"For all the abstracted talk over the last year about health insurance churn, we are likely about to see it on an unprecedented scale in terms of velocity and devastation."
--Jeff Stein, Washington Post
The worst-case scenario presented in the report projects a U.S. unemployment rate of 25%--equal to the jobless rate at the peak of the Great Depression. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis predicted last month that the unemployment rate could reach 32% by the end of June.
"For all the abstracted talk over the last year about health insurance churn, we are likely about to see it on an unprecedented scale in terms of velocity and devastation," Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein tweeted, referring to the policy debate that emerged in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary over whether the employer-sponsored healthcare system gives people more "choice" than a universal alternative like Medicare for All.
While many people who lose their coverage will be eligible to enroll in Medicaid, the HMA report notes that "one-third of all jobs" are located in states that have opted not to expand the program.
As a result, the report warns, the total number of uninsured Americans could rise from around 28 million today to 40 million, with the impact disproportionately falling on the millions of people living in states that have not expanded Medicaid.
"We need to drop the Medicare eligibility age to 0 right now," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a vocal supporter of Medicare for All, tweeted in response to the new study.
"Good-quality health care should not be tied to your job," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a Democratic presidential candidate, in response to the new report. "At a minimum, the government must ensure health care for all, without cost, for the duration of this crisis."
As Common Dreams reported, the Economic Policy Institute estimated Thursday that 3.5 million people have likely already lost their employer-provided insurance over just the last two weeks as the coronavirus pandemic continues to drive mass layoffs across the U.S. The Department of Labor announced Thursday that 6.6 million people filed jobless claims last week alone.
Ryan Cooper, national correspondent for The Week, wrote in a column Friday that "thanks to America's uniquely boneheaded insistence on tying health insurance to employment," the U.S. healthcare system "is in very real danger of collapsing altogether" without immediate and sweeping action from Congress.
"Whatever it is, it needs to be big, and it needs to happen yesterday," wrote Cooper. "The national health insurance system is crumbling more with every day that passes."
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic collapse could cause a staggering 35 million people in the U.S. to lose their employer-sponsored health insurance over the next several months, with lower-income Americans bearing the brunt of the damage.
That's according to a report (pdf) released Friday by the research and consulting firm Health Management Associates (HMA). The new analysis warns that, depending on the severity of U.S. job losses, "the number of people receiving coverage from an employer could decline by 12 to 35 million, including both workers and family members."
"For all the abstracted talk over the last year about health insurance churn, we are likely about to see it on an unprecedented scale in terms of velocity and devastation."
--Jeff Stein, Washington Post
The worst-case scenario presented in the report projects a U.S. unemployment rate of 25%--equal to the jobless rate at the peak of the Great Depression. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis predicted last month that the unemployment rate could reach 32% by the end of June.
"For all the abstracted talk over the last year about health insurance churn, we are likely about to see it on an unprecedented scale in terms of velocity and devastation," Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein tweeted, referring to the policy debate that emerged in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary over whether the employer-sponsored healthcare system gives people more "choice" than a universal alternative like Medicare for All.
While many people who lose their coverage will be eligible to enroll in Medicaid, the HMA report notes that "one-third of all jobs" are located in states that have opted not to expand the program.
As a result, the report warns, the total number of uninsured Americans could rise from around 28 million today to 40 million, with the impact disproportionately falling on the millions of people living in states that have not expanded Medicaid.
"We need to drop the Medicare eligibility age to 0 right now," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a vocal supporter of Medicare for All, tweeted in response to the new study.
"Good-quality health care should not be tied to your job," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a Democratic presidential candidate, in response to the new report. "At a minimum, the government must ensure health care for all, without cost, for the duration of this crisis."
As Common Dreams reported, the Economic Policy Institute estimated Thursday that 3.5 million people have likely already lost their employer-provided insurance over just the last two weeks as the coronavirus pandemic continues to drive mass layoffs across the U.S. The Department of Labor announced Thursday that 6.6 million people filed jobless claims last week alone.
Ryan Cooper, national correspondent for The Week, wrote in a column Friday that "thanks to America's uniquely boneheaded insistence on tying health insurance to employment," the U.S. healthcare system "is in very real danger of collapsing altogether" without immediate and sweeping action from Congress.
"Whatever it is, it needs to be big, and it needs to happen yesterday," wrote Cooper. "The national health insurance system is crumbling more with every day that passes."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.