Medical Expenses Alone Moved 7.7 Million Americans Into Poverty
MONTGOMERY – Income rose and poverty declined in the United States in the calendar year before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the number of Americans without health insurance increased for the third consecutive year despite a growing economy, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) report released last week. The number of children without insurance increased as well. In 2019, about 320,000 more children were uninsured than in 2018. The annual Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) revealed that 7.7 million Americans became poor due to medical expenses.
The report shows that 9.7% of Alabamians were uninsured in 2019, a slight decrease from 10% the year before. The rate of uninsured people in states that failed to expand Medicaid was twice as high as the rate in states that expanded Medicaid. Children living in the South were more likely to be uninsured than children living in other regions. Almost 8% of children in the South are uninsured. By contrast, only 3% of children in the Northeast lack health insurance.
Jane Adams, campaign director of the nonpartisan Cover Alabama Coalition, said in a statement:
“The devil is in the details, and the details reveal Alabama’s failure to expand Medicaid has caused more poverty, hardship and uninsurance. It’s shameful that Alabama has such a high uninsurance rate. It does not have to be this way. Governor Ivey could expand Medicaid today and provide an estimated 340,000 Alabamians with access to health insurance.”
The ACS health coverage data comes from surveys conducted before the pandemic hit. Due to COVID-19, the United States has endured the deepest recession since the Great Depression, fundamentally changing the country’s economic landscape. The economic fallout from COVID-19 will result in more poverty, uninsurance and debt. Medicaid expansion would help by generating nearly $3 billion a year in new economic activity throughout the state and creating an additional 30,000 jobs.
Recent polling shows Medicaid expansion is popular in Alabama. A majority of Alabamians support expanding Medicaid, including 54% of Republicans. But Alabama’s elected leaders are still leaving many Alabamians uninsured by refusing to expand health coverage. Medicaid expansion would benefit working families, primarily adults between the ages of 19 and 64 whose income is at or below 138% of the federal poverty level. In 2020, that amounts to $17,608 for an individual and $36,156 for a household of four.
More than 7.5 million people are uninsured in the eight Southern states that have refused to expand Medicaid. The Southerners for Medicaid Expansion Coalition, of which Cover Alabama is a member, will join with these eight other Southern states Oct. 1 for simultaneous candlelight vigils across the region. This action of solidarity and remembrance will honor the lives of people who are suffering from the denial of health care access during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Media Release/Jane Adams
Campaign Director | Cover Alabama Coalition
