More than 607,000 Floridians have lost employer-sponsored health insurance, added to the more than five million total workers in the United States who are now without health insurance.
According to a new study, roughly 5.4 million American workers lost health insurance provided by their employers, making it the biggest single-year loss of coverage in U.S. history.
“We knew these numbers would be big,” study author Stan Dorn, who runs the Families USA’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 number of uninsured workers has jumped by close to 40% more than the 3.9 million adults who lost insurance during the Great Recession.
“This is particularly problematic during a pandemic involving a highly infectious, deadly disease, especially in states that are allowing residents to be in closer personal contact by attempting to reopen their economies – often the same states now experiencing significant spikes in COVID-19 infection rates,” the study said.
The Kaiser Family Foundation found 27 million Americans have lost health insurance. Even though the number of uninsured people has surged, no federal laws have been enacted yet to stem the tide.
“No federal COVID-19 legislation signed into law has attempted to restore or preserve comprehensive health insurance, which improves health outcomes, limits financial insecurity, and promotes economic recovery. Federal lawmakers can fill that gap in the next COVID-19 bill,” Families USA said.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.