Health Affairs August 17, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is exposing the vulnerability of working Americans to loss of their health insurance. Employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) is the primary source of coverage for US workers and their dependents, and when unemployment rises, so too does the uninsured rate. The recession gripping the nation has upended existing insurance arrangements for millions of working families. A recent analysis estimated that 26.8 million Americans may have lost their job-based coverage from March 1 to May 2. Past experience suggests that a large proportion of these workers will become uninsured, even though nearly 80 percent are likely to be eligible for free or subsidized coverage.
In this post, we explain how gaps in eligibility for federal assistance programs, perceptions of affordability,...
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