COVERAGE: Unemployed and Uninsured

The latest employment numbers continue to paint a bleak picture for the economy. Almost 600,000 Americans lost their jobs last month, increasing the nation's unemployment rate from 7.2 percent in December to 7.6 percent in January.

Losses continued to be largest among manufacturing (207,000 jobs) and construction (111,000 job). Health care remained one of the few areas of job growth, adding 19,000 jobs in January.

Also released today, was a new analysis by the Lewin Group for Families USA looking at insurance coverage among the unemployed—specifically those with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($44,100 in annual income for a family of four). Key findings:

• Only one-in-five unemployed workers with incomes below 200 percent of poverty have private insurance or military coverage
• Only one-in-four unemployed workers earning less than 200 percent of poverty are covered through Medicaid or other public programs
• Nationally, more than half (54.0 percent) of unemployed workers with annual incomes below 200 percent of poverty are uninsured

Of those 600,000 Americans who lost their jobs last month, a good portion (about two-thirds or around 440,000 according to analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation) also lost their health insurance. Many of them have incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid, but too low to cover the cost of COBRA. Even those who maintain coverage—through a spouse, the individual market or some other means—will stil have trouble paying their medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses. Any economic relief directed at the unemployed would do well to ease the burden of health care, and any economic recovery plan must begin to tackle the challenges of health reform.