Losing jobs costs more Minnesotans their health coverage

By CHEN MAY YEE, Star Tribune

Last update: October 20, 2009 - 9:04 AM

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About 45,700 working-age Minnesotans are projected to have lost their health insurance so far this year because they lost their jobs, according to a report released today by the Washington-based consumer group Families USA.

That's expected to push the number of uninsured working adults in the state up 13 percent, to 398,300.

Around the country, 4 million working-age adults were projected to have lost health insurance because of job loss in 2009.

The states with the biggest losses are California (661,600), Texas (396,900), Florida (297,600), New York (253,100) and North Carolina (184,700).

By contrast, the number of uninsured children stayed stable due to public coverage for children through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Families USA used a model that assumes that every 1 percent increase in the unemployment rate pushes the number of uninsured working-age adults up by 0.59 percent.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Minnesotans grew from an average of 5.5 percent last year to 8 percent this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It includes only people who were actively searching for work in the last four weeks. "Discouraged workers" who have given up looking for jobs are not included.

More than 60 percent of Americans under 65 get their coverage through their jobs or a spouse's job.

Chen May Yee 612-673-7434

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