Politics
Virus Threat Grows in U.S. Where Millions Lost Health Coverage
- Jobs-based plans vanished and ACA couldn’t replace them all
- Gaps especially large in Texas and Florida, where cases surged
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As a second coronavirus wave threatens America, millions are stranded without health insurance after losing their jobs when the disease first hit.
More than half the U.S. population relied on the workplace for health coverage, before a pandemic that’s triggered record job losses worldwide. In other developed economies, the newly unemployed could rely on systems of universal health care. In America, they’ve had to navigate a bewildering menu of options to figure out if they have access to a patched-together safety net.
While Congress has set aside billions of dollars to pay for virus-related care for the uninsured, they’ll be on their own for more ordinary medical expenses.