Millions of Californians could lose health insurance in coronavirus-driven recession, study says
Hundreds of thousands of Californians have already lost their employer-sponsored health insurance since the coronavirus outbreak upended the national economy and millions more could follow, according to a new study by a health care consulting firm.
Nationwide, 12 to 35 million workers could lose their work insurance, according to an April 3 study by national research and consulting company Health Management Associates.
In California, between 1.3 and 3.8 million people could lose health care through their employers, depending on economic models that consider a nationwide range of 10 to 33 million people losing their jobs, according to the firm.
Health Access California, a left-leaning consumer advocacy group, drew attention to the study in a news release Monday warning of a rise in the share of uninsured California households
California probably has the resources to prevent a spike in uninsured households in a recession in which the unemployment rate holds around 10 percent, according to Health Access California.
But, if unemployment climbs to a potential 25 percent, Medi-Cal enrollment could increase by 3 million, and Covered California by 250,000, the Health Management Associates report notes. Hundreds of thousands of more could go uninsured, the advocacy group says.
In 2018, 2.8 million Californians did not have health insurance, according to U.S. Census data released last year.
Before the coronavirus shook the U.S. economy, the national unemployment rate stood around 3.5 percent, and 29 million Americans were uninsured. Former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Monday told CNBC that the national unemployment rate might already be at 12 percent to 13 percent.
In the study’s worst-case-scenario, up to 40 million Americans would be without coverage.
California has already extended the deadline to enroll in the state-supported Covered California insurance market to June 30 because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“Covered California is now open for enrollment for any reason, and the income-based affordability assistance and new state subsidies should help people get insured at this crucial time,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California. “Medi-Cal is open year round and will continue to be a lifeline for millions of Californians, including those newly unemployed due to the closure of big parts of our economy.”
The Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan D.C. think tank, estimated in an April 2 report that the 3.5 million Americans likely lost their coverage with their jobs in the last two weeks, including abut 420,000 Californians.
In the week ending with March 28, California’s new jobless claims surged to an estimated 878,727, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
By March 31, Gov. Gavin Newsom said 1.6 million Californians had applied for unemployment insurance, with a record-number 150,000 applying in a single day.
This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Millions of Californians could lose health insurance in coronavirus-driven recession, study says."