New report addresses unemployment and insurance challenges amid COVID-19
Unemployment is a hot topic amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, especially within the context of who has health insurance. A recent report by the Urban Institute and sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation yielded concerning trends during what is now becoming referred to as “the COVID-19 recession.” There will be profound impact for anyone who provides health services and/or behavioral healthcare.
For the last three quarters of 2020, a total of 48 million non-elderly individuals are expected to be impacted by furloughs and layoffs, with 10 million losing employee-sponsored health insurance. In addition:
Temporary provisions available during the public health emergencies for continuous eligibility remain in play. These include those related to increased Medicaid and CHIP enrollment. This provision applies if a state accepts additional federal funding through an increased matching rate for traditional Medicaid eligibility categories under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act. Without this eligibility, people would have disenrolled from Medicaid and CHIP, or been found ineligible and automatically disenrolled.
What’s the ultimate outcome? It would be nice to think that many of these individuals will start to regain employment, and with it, insurance. However, that is NOT the reality for many in this already vulnerable and at-risk population. With increased infection rates, ongoing healthcare needs, plus elevated mental health, addiction, and other treatment concerns, we can expect an increased tally of those in need, with greater financial losses for providers. The report is an informative read and available directly from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation website, www.rwjf.org.
For this week’s Monitor Mondays Survey, we asked what trends our listeners were experiencing with their patients in the context of insurance status since COVID-19 hit. The survey results can be viewed here.
Programming Note: Ellen Fink-Samnick is a permanent panelist on Monitor Mondays. Listen to her live reporting every Monday at 10 a.m. EST.
EDITOR’S NOTE Day 3 of the federal shutdown continues. This article by Mark Spivey is part of a special section today published by RACmonitor and
As expected, the federal shutdown began early Wednesday morning. What’s unknown is how long it will continue. Neither congressional Republicans nor Democrats appear to be
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