Losing Health Insurance during a Pandemic

Layoffs have left families without employer-provided health insurance and unable to afford COBRA or Obamacare plans, leaving them uninsured when access to medical care is most important. 

One study participant was on his wife’s health insurance plan until she was laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic. Without the insurance plan from work, he and his wife cannot afford the $1200 a month payments to continue the insurance under COBRA  - $1200 a month would be half of their monthly income. He has been on dialysis for three years and because he is not an American citizen, does not qualify for free dialysis. He says that without insurance, he will have to pay $25,000 a month to continue treatment. He must now choose between going into massive debt or dying of kidney failure. He has worked and paid taxes in the U.S. for over 20 years, but is unable to access the social safety net that could save his life. 

“I can come up with a bunch of money, I can acquire a bunch of debt, or I can die.”

Phoebe used to receive health insurance through her job as a school bus monitor. Last December, she was injured while working. For a brief time, her employer paid for her health insurance, but stopped paying after it became clear that she would not be able to return to work. Phoebe now suffers from chronic back pain from the accident. During COVID, she has not been able to see a doctor, because she does not have health insurance. She used to have ConnectorCare, but ended it a few months ago, because she could no longer afford the $700 monthly premium. Phoebe plans to apply for MassHealth, but because of a previous application denial, she fears she won’t qualify. 

Candid is a 60-year-old woman who has lived her entire life in Boston. Her son lives with her and is a student at a local community college. He does not have medical insurance and was diagnosed with COVID in April and had a series of complications while taking medication.   Eventually, he developed walking pneumonia. Candid does not know how they will pay when they receive the bills for her son’s medical treatment.

Names and some details changed to protect confidentiality.