With the Supreme Court set to decide the fate of the Affordable Care Act in a month, the state of health insurance in America has been front of mind for many. An Urban Institute report released July 13, "Changes in Health Insurance Coverage Due to the COVID-19 Recession," estimated that 3.5 million people would become uninsured during the last three quarters of 2020. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 26.1 million Americans (8.0%) were uninsured for the entire calendar year of 2019. Moreover, 9.2% of people (29.6 million) were not covered by health insurance at the time of interview, according to the American Community Survey. That's an increase from 8.9% and 28.6 million in 2018. Read more: Nearly 8 million workers lost employer-sponsored insurance during pandemic As the country still struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of not having health insurance can be nightmarish. WalletHub recently released a study measuring post-Obamacare uninsured rates in each of the 50 states. Using U.S. Census data, the survey examined rates based on age, race, and income. "Traditionally, those who no longer have employer health insurance due to losing their job could choose to continue it under COBRA, obtain coverage through their next employer, or obtain individual coverage," said Patrick D. Souter, professor of healthcare studies at Baylor University School of Law. "However, COVID-19 has hit segments of our population harder than others that do not make those alternatives possible. One group is those who would not be able to afford COBRA under regular circumstances and especially not now. Another group is those who may be able to afford COBRA for a short time but not long-term due to their inability to find comparable employment. "The primary alternative for these groups would be to access free coverage through Medicaid," Souter continued, "but that is not a cure-all either since you still must meet program requirements to qualify for the benefits. We are seeing numbers of those who fall in-between these two safety nets like we have not previously seen." See our above slideshow for the top and bottom 5 cities for uninsured rates, and click here for the full study. Read more: |

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