Millions of poor are left uncovered by health law, By Sabrina Tavernise and Robert Gebeloff, October 2, 2013, New York Times: “A sweeping national effort to extend health coverage to millions of Americans will leave out two-thirds of the poor blacks and single mothers and more than half of the low-wage workers who do not have insurance, the very kinds of people that the program was intended to help, according to an analysis of census data by The New York Times. Because they live in states largely controlled by Republicans that have declined to participate in a vast expansion of Medicaid, the medical insurance program for the poor, they are among the eight million Americans who are impoverished, uninsured and ineligible for help. The federal government will pay for the expansion through 2016 and no less than 90 percent of costs in later years…”
Tag: Health care subsidies
COBRA Health Coverage
- Federal subsidy for COBRA health coverage to expire, By Phil Galewitz, August 30, 2011, Miami Herald: “One of the key consumer benefits of the federal stimulus package – subsidies to help laid-off workers continue their health care coverage – draws to a close Wednesday, raising concerns about how the unemployed will cover those expenses. It’s a dilemma that Holly Jespersen knows firsthand. She lost her job twice in the past two years – both times losing her employer-paid health insurance. But the second time, she paid about $350 a month more for insurance than she had the first time because she didn’t qualify for the subsidy. ‘It made a huge difference for me,’ said Jespersen, 36, of Darien, Conn. ‘I wish I still had it.’ Jespersen was one of millions of laid-off workers to benefit from the federal subsidies for COBRA, a program set up under federal law that allows people who lose their jobs to keep the employer-provided insurance, typically for 18 months, if they pay the entire premium plus a small percentage for an administrative fee…”
- No more coverage for the unemployed, By Tim Darragh, August 31, 2011, Allentown Morning Call: “Hospital emergency departments may see a continued increase in the number of uninsured people they treat, now that a federal stimulus-funded benefit that helped underwrite health care coverage for the unemployed ended Wednesday. Deficit-conscious members of Congress last year decided to let the subsidy expire, leaving unemployed people who had been getting COBRA coverage the option of paying for it in full, finding a short-term policy or going without health insurance. Enrollment in the program ended in May 2010, and subsidies expired Wednesday for most eligible individuals. There is little doubt that many, if not most, of those people will go uninsured, said Antoinette Kraus, project manager of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, a coalition of organizations working to expand health coverage for working people and the poor…”
Health Insurance Coverage for Low-Income Adults – Pennsylvania
In Pa., low-income adults soon may be uninsured, By Jenny Gold, February 23, 2011, National Public Radio: “When Paula Michele Boyle first received the letter earlier this month explaining that her health insurance coverage was being terminated, she took it personally, thinking maybe the insurer had discovered something in her history to make her ineligible. But then the Philadelphia resident read on and realized that it wasn’t just her – the entire program, Pennsylvania’s state-funded health plan for low-income adults, was about to be canceled. For Boyle and her husband, Tom, both self-employed cancer survivors who need regular medical care, the news has been unnerving. ‘We were in shock over this,’ Boyle says. ‘What are we going to do now? We need doctor visits and testing.’ Nearly 42,000 people who participate in the program have received similar notices. Another 494,787 people had been on the waiting list, hoping to get such coverage…”