It’s certainly no secret that layoffs can lead a person to lose their health insurance benefits. However, the massive layoffs of recent months, the largest in 25 years, has spiked the level of uninsured Americans to record levels. What a lot of people don’t think about is that for every person that gets laid off, at least one other sibling or spouce also loses their health insurance coverage.
“This shows why — no matter how bad the condition of the economy — we can’t delay pursuing comprehensive health care,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. “There are too many victims who are innocent of anything but working at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
According to TwinCities.com, President-elect Obama and the new Democratic Congress will be focused on “expanding access to health insurance, with federal subsidies.”
I’m not excited about paying for massive subsidies, but what happens if the jobless rate continues to increase. Is anyone immune from losing their job? What happens if we should one day need assistance? That’s something I’ve been thinking about more lately, and it frightens me.
There is hope for some, however. “In some cases, people who are laid off can maintain their group health benefits under a federal law, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, known as COBRA, says TwinCities.com.” Check with your employer or your state’s Department of Labor for more information.
Source: TwinCities.com
