Study: 5.4M Americans lost health insurance amid pandemic – By Darryl Coote (UPI) / July 14 2020
July 14 (UPI) — An estimated 5.4 million Americans lost their health insurance between February and May because of job losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, a new study said, stating it is the greatest loss in healthcare coverage in the country’s history.
The 23-page report, published by the nonpartisan Families USA consumer advocacy group on Monday, said the number of people who lost their health insurance during the three-month period is 39 percent higher than any annual increase ever recorded, trumping the previous high of 3.9 million non-elderly adults who became uninsured during the one-year period of 2008 to 2009.
Nearly half of those who lost insurance due to the pandemic reside in the five states of California, Texas, Florida, New York and North Carolina, the report said, adding the new increases also mean that more than 20 percent of adults in the eight states of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas are without health insurance.
“Families in America are losing comprehensive health insurance in record numbers,” the report said. “This creates particularly serious dangers during a grave public health crisis and deep economic downturn.”
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