5.4 Million Americans Lost Health Insurance in Pandemic, Study Finds

Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=23647"><span class="small">The New York Times</span></a>

Wednesday, 15 July 2020 08:18

Excerpt: "The coronavirus pandemic stripped an estimated 5.4 million Americans of their health insurance between February and May, a stretch in which more adults became uninsured because of job losses than have ever lost coverage in a single year, according to a new analysis."

Drivers lining up for virus testing in Los Angeles. More than a third of California's cases are in Los Angeles County. (photo: Jenna Schoenefeld/NYT)

5.4 Million Americans Lost Health Insurance in Pandemic, Study Finds

By The New York Times

15 July 20

California�s governor announced a sweeping rollback of the state�s reopening and Los Angeles and San Diego school districts will be online-only in the fall. Dr. Anthony Fauci returned to the White House.

he coronavirus pandemic stripped an estimated 5.4 million Americans of their health insurance between February and May, a stretch in which more adults became uninsured because of job losses than have ever lost coverage in a single year, according to a new analysis.

As Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports, the study, to be released Tuesday by the nonpartisan consumer advocacy group Families U.S.A., found that the estimated increase in uninsured laid-off workers over the three-month period was nearly 40 percent higher than the highest previous increase, which occurred during the recession of 2008 and 2009. In that period, 3.9 million adults lost insurance.

�We knew these numbers would be big,�� said Stan Dorn, who directs the group�s National Center for Coverage Innovation and was the author of the study. �This is the worst economic downturn since World War II. It dwarfs the Great Recession. So it�s not surprising that we would also see the worst increase in the uninsured.�

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