Approximately 77,300 people in Wisconsin lost health insurance coverage in 2009 due to a rise in unemployment, according a new report by Families USA, co-released by Citizen Action of Wisconsin.
The unemployment rate in 2008 in Wisconsin was 4.7 percent, while the average rate this year is 8.5 percent, resulting in an equally dramatic loss of health coverage across the state, according to the report.
Among the 50 states, Wisconsin ranks 13th-worst in the nation in the loss of health coverage loss during the economic downturn.
The report is based on the link between rising unemployment and health insurance coverage losses. Most Americans - 61.9 percent of those under the age of 65 - get their health coverage through their own job or that of a family member. Job loss, therefore, usually means loss of health coverage because other options, such as COBRA and individual coverage, are usually prohibitively expensive.
"This disturbing new report is further evidence that national health care reform is desperately needed here in Wisconsin," said Robert Kraig, executive drector of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. "With unemployment moving towards the 10-percent mark, tens of thousands of more Wisconsinites will lose their coverage unless we enact fundamental reform by the end of this year."
"People who receive a pink slip experience a double whammy," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. "They not only lose their jobs but they usually lose their health coverage as well. That's why health care reform is so important. It will protect America's families when they lose or switch jobs."
The full report is available at http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/one-two-punch.pdf.
Wisconsin residents losing health insurance as they lose jobs
Operand type clash: text is incompatible with int
advertisement
Sorry, the story you tried to comment on is not accepting comments.