The danger of being uninsured is more acute than ever for many Americans, as the unemployment rate continues to rise in the fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health and economic crisis. As of May 1, 33.5 million Americans applied for unemployment since the national public health emergency was declared.¹

Because of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), millions more Americans are eligible for assistance with healthcare costs now than during the 2008 economic recession, and states have seen a significant increase in individuals seeking healthcare coverage through Medicaid/the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the ACA Marketplaces. But gaps in coverage remain and have widened over the past four years. The stimulus bills do not fill the holes in coverage and in fact created a misalignment in eligibility requirements across programs, confusing individuals and resulting in programmatic disconnects for states.

In a new expert perspective prepared for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health and Value Strategies program, Manatt Health managing director Chiquita Brooks-LaSure provides an overview of strategies that states can consider to help address these gaps in coverage to ensure as many people as possible get access to comprehensive care as the country continues to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 health and economic crisis.

To read the full expert perspective, click here.

_{¹ Department of Labor. Unemployment Data Dashboard.}