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The Clock is Ticking: More Americans Losing Health Coverage

Posted by: Ella Hushagen on Jul 15, 2009

Each week, another 44,230 Americans lose health coverage. That adds up to a staggering 2.3 million people losing coverage per year-more people than live in the state of Nebraska!

In a report released today, Families USA found that,

With each passing week that meaningful health care reform is not enacted, more families in every state are losing health coverage... Families USA based its state numbers on national estimates published in the peer-reviewed policy journal Health Affairs in May 2009. These estimates project that 6.9 million more Americans, primarily people in working families, will lose health coverage by the end of 2010.

The report breaks down these numbers by state, making it clear that no community is unaffected by the stampeding problem. As health care costs have soared in recent years, employers and hard-working families have been forced to make tough choices. The report does not fully capture the acceleration of this trend caused by the rising unemployment:

With the economy in recession, rising unemployment is almost certainly fueling additional increases in the number of people who are losing coverage. The Urban Institute estimates that every 1 percent increase in the unemployment rate leads to a 0.59 percent increase in the number of adults under the age of 65 without health coverage. Between January 2008 and June 2009, unemployment swelled by 4.6 percent, so it is safe to assume that states will experience even greater losses of coverage between 2008 and 2010 than can be captured by our Key Findings.

Ron Pollack called on Congress to take swift action to reverse the crash course we're on:

We have a wonderful opportunity now-with a broad consensus in support of action and momentum-to enact meaningful health reform. The longer Congress waits to act, the more families will lose coverage. Congress needs to act expeditiously to pass health reform legislation.