Need health insurance? First deadlines coming
WASHINGTON — Many laid-off workers who lost health insurance in the coronavirus shutdown soon face the first deadlines to qualify for fallback coverage under the Affordable Care Act
Taxpayer- subsidized health insurance is available for a modest cost — sometimes even free — across the country, but industry officials and independent researchers say few people seem to know how to find it. For those who lost their health insurance as layoffs mounted in late March, a 60- day “special enrollment” period for individual coverage under the ACA closes at the end of May in most states.
Altheia Franklin, who lives near Houston, lost her medical plan after being laid off as a counselor to seniors at an upscale retirement community. Stay-at-home orders and higher virus risks for older people have put such life transitions on hold in the pandemic.
Franklin found an ACA— or Obamacare — plan she could still afford on a reduced income.
“We are in the middle of a pandemic, and God forbid if I get sick and I don’t have it,“she said of her health insurance.
The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that nearly 27 million workers and family members had lost job-based health coverage as of the start of this month, a number now likely higher with unemployment rising.
In a counter-intuitive finding, Kaiser’s study estimated that nearly 8 in 10 of the newly uninsured would likely qualify for some sort of coverage under former President Barack Obama’s health law, either a private plan like Franklin found, or Medicaid.
There are several options, not easy to sort through. Some have application deadlines; others do not. And the Trump administration, which still plans to ask the Supreme Court later this summer to declare “Obamacare” unconstitutional, is doing little to promote the health law’s coverage.
Here’s a quick look:
Subsidized Private Insurance: People who lose workplace insurance generally have 60 days from when their coverage ended to apply for an ACAplan. They can go to the federal HealthCare.gov or their state’s health insurance website.
Medicaid For Adults: Nearly 75% of states have expanded Medicaid to lowincome adults under the Obama health law. In those states, low-income adults can qualify for free or very low cost coverage. There is no sign-up deadline.
Children’s Health Insurance: Laid-off workers should be able to get their children covered even if the adults in the family cannot help. The federal-state Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid cover kids in families with incomes well above the poverty level.
COBRA: People can continue their employer coverage under a federal law known as COBRA, but they have to pay 102% of the premium — too much for most who are out of work. If there’s another coronavirus bill from Congress, it might include subsidies for COBRA coverage.