Health Insurance Losses Soar In North Carolina, Other US States

NORTH CAROLINA — As the number of daily coronavirus cases continues to hit record levels in the United States, a staggering number of people in North Carolina and elsewhere have lost their health insurance benefits due to coronavirus-related job cuts.

According to a new study by Families USA, a nonpartisan consumer advocacy group, 5.4 million non-elderly Americans reported losing their health insurance between February and May.

The increase in the number of people uninsured is 39 percent higher than at any other increase on record, according to the study. The previous record was set in 2008-09, when 3.9 million people became uninsured.

An estimated 20 percent of non-elderly adults in North Carolina are currently uninsured, according to the study.

“We knew these numbers would be big,’’ Stan Dorn, the study's author who directs the group’s National Center for Coverage Innovation, told The New York Times. “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.”

The study takes a state-by-state look at the effect of coronavirus-related layoffs on adults younger than 65, the age at which Americans become eligible for Medicare. The study found that nearly half — 46 percent — of the coverage losses from the pandemic happened in five states: California, Texas, Florida, New York and North Carolina.

The study calls on Congress to include health care protections in any future coronavirus legislation.

Republicans are planning to use any future legislation as a way to redeem themselves with voters on health care, according to the Times. Their goal is to offer provisions aimed at meeting medical needs stemming from the pandemic.

The study also ties into this year’s presidential campaign season, during which health care — and, in particular, the Affordable Care Act — is expected to be a major issue.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has moved forward with efforts to persuade the Supreme Court to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. House Democrats, however, have countered the administration’s move by passing a bill to expand it.