FORT WAYNE, Indiana (AFP) — For many among the growing ranks of unemployed workers in the United States, the scariest part of losing their job is losing their health insurance.
Even before the current economic crisis, 45 million Americans were uninsured. That number is expected to rise to 54 million by 2019 if changes aren’t made to the system, according to the director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
One of the swelling Read the rest of this entry »

FORT WAYNE, Indiana (AFP) — For many among the growing ranks of unemployed workers in the United States, the scariest part of losing their job is losing their health insurance.
Even before the current economic crisis, 45 million Americans were uninsured. That number is expected to rise to 54 million by 2019 if changes aren’t made to the system, according to the director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
One of the swelling Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new report shows that most low-income people who lose their jobs also are without health care insurance.
A study by the advocacy group Families USA says slightly more than half the nation’s unemployed cannot afford private insurance and also are not eligible for coverage under Medicaid.
The report focuses on middle-class and lower-income workers with annual incomes of about $44,100 for a family of four, or about double Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON — The stimulus bill working its way through Congress is not just a package of spending increases and tax cuts intended to jolt the nation out of recession. For Democrats, it is also a tool for rewriting the social contract with the poor, the uninsured and the unemployed, in ways they have long yearned to do.
With little notice and no public hearings, House Democrats would create a temporary new entitlement allowing workers getting Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON – The economic stimulus package now being assembled on Capitol Hill will include significant subsidies to help the newly unemployed keep their health insurance after they lose their jobs, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said yesterday.
COBRA benefits let laid-off workers keep their group healthcare coverage for up to 18 months, but the benefits are too expensive for many unemployed people because they must pay the full cost Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON – The economic stimulus package now being assembled on Capitol Hill will include significant subsidies to help the newly unemployed keep their health insurance after they lose their jobs, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said yesterday.
COBRA benefits let laid-off workers keep their group healthcare coverage for up to 18 months, but the benefits are too expensive for many unemployed people because they must pay the full cost Read the rest of this entry »

01:00 AM EST on Sunday, February 1, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — For most newly unemployed workers, maintaining family health coverage through an extension of workplace benefits is a prohibitively expensive proposition, a recent study suggests.
With unemployment hitting a 16-year high in December, measures such as federal subsidies to help jobless people afford coverage are all the more urgent, argues Families USA, a national advocacy organization Read the rest of this entry »

With the continuing unhappy news about layoffs at area companies, one insurance provider is reaching out to this growing group of former employees and offering to link them up with government-subsidized health care coverage.
Fidelis Care offers free and low-cost insurance through New York’s Child Health Plus, Family Health Plus and Medicaid programs, according to a press release from Fidelis.
“What most don’t realize is that Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON — Tucked in the $819-billion stimulus bill approved this week by the U.S. House is a complex subtitle that rewrites the nation’s duty to poor and unemployed people, offering access — for a time — to guaranteed government-paid health care.
It’s a promise that could mean a lot in Michigan, with the nation’s highest unemployment rate — 10.6% in December.
The stimulus sets aside $83 billion to cover states’ Medicaid costs; Michigan Read the rest of this entry »

Michiganders who lose jobs often can’t afford to buy temporary policies that extend workplace health benefits because the cost eats up nearly all of their monthly unemployment checks, a report released Friday concludes.
Only one in five unemployed workers have health insurance, says a new report from FamiliesUSA, a Washington, D.C., research and advocacy organization. As a result, many delay care for themselves and their families, making it more Read the rest of this entry »