{"id":202399,"date":"2021-10-14T17:04:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T21:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=202399"},"modified":"2021-10-15T07:15:58","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T11:15:58","slug":"during-covid-majority-of-newly-unemployed-adults-in-nc-didnt-receive-medicaid","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2021\/during-covid-majority-of-newly-unemployed-adults-in-nc-didnt-receive-medicaid\/","title":{"rendered":"During COVID, Majority of Newly Unemployed Adults in North Carolina Didn&#8217;t Receive Medicaid"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin has-media has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1709\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-636x425.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-755x504.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-1498x1000.jpg 1498w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-900x601.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-1920x1282.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/10\/medicaid-uninsurance-1200x801.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">medicaid<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDuring COVID, Majority of Newly Unemployed Adults in North Carolina Didn&#8217;t Receive Medicaid\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Only 15 percent of adults who became unemployed in North Carolina during the pandemic gained Medicaid coverage, though the rate was higher in the state&#8217;s more socially vulnerable counties.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">October 14, 2021<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/jillian-mckoy\/\">Jillian McKoy<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>Within the first few months of the pandemic, the US unemployment rate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/03\/upshot\/coronavirus-jobless-rate-great-depression.html\">skyrocketed<\/a> from 3.8 percent in February 2020 to 13 percent in April 2020, quickly surpassing total job losses from the entire two years of the Great Recession. Millions of people who were forced out of the workforce lost both income and employer-sponsored health insurance coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Medicaid was designed to help absorb the shock of economic hardship, particularly during a crisis such as COVID-19. But for many people who lost their jobs, and the health insurance that often comes with it, during the pandemic in North Carolina, this safety net health insurance program wasn\u2019t there to support them, according to a new study led by a School of Public Health researcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Published in the journal <em>Health Affairs<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthaffairs.org\/doi\/10.1377\/hlthaff.2021.00377\">the study<\/a> found that only approximately 15 percent of North Carolina residents who became unemployed would be expected to gain Medicaid coverage. Among the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/medicaid\/issue-brief\/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map\/\">12 states<\/a> yet to expand Medicaid, North Carolina maintains very restrictive Medicaid eligibility requirements for adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur study results aren\u2019t surprising, given how difficult it is to qualify for Medicaid in North Carolina,\u201d says study lead author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/paul-shafer\/\">Paul Shafer<\/a>, assistant professor of health law, policy &amp; management. \u201cEssentially, if you\u2019re an adult without children or other dependents, you can never qualify for Medicaid based on income alone. Parents and caregivers who do qualify can only earn income up to 41 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), which is very low relative to expansion states, where everyone up to 138 percent of the FPL can qualify.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Studying county-level data on unemployment, Medicaid enrollment, and social vulnerability, the researchers also found that the most socially vulnerable counties in North Carolina had higher gains in Medicaid enrollment\u2014good news, says Shafer, but not good enough, considering the state\u2019s high uninsurance rate overall: an estimated 20 percent of adults in the state became uninsured by May 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not enough to say that we\u2019re moving in the right direction from an equity perspective,\u201d says Shafer. \u201cThe idea that, in a post-ACA world, a state could have a 20 percent uninsurance rate among adults is mind-blowing. It\u2019s very clear that a substantial number of people are losing coverage and have nowhere else to go without Medicaid expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings underscore the important role of social context in the relationship between unemployment and Medicaid enrollment. State-wide Medicaid data may not accurately capture differences in unemployment and other barriers to Medicaid enrollment that can occur within a state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the country moves closer to a post-pandemic reality, there is another danger looming on the horizon. Millions of additional people are in danger of <a href=\"https:\/\/tradeoffs.org\/2021\/07\/08\/why-millions-could-lose-medicaid-next-year\/\">losing Medicaid coverage<\/a> whenever the COVID public health emergency declaration is allowed to expire and all of the paperwork and other administrative burdens restart, having been halted during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An obvious solution to ensuring people retain or acquire health insurance coverage is to expand Medicaid universally, says Shafer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCongress can make this problem largely go away by closing the Medicaid gap and pursuing strategies such as auto-enrollment, which will dramatically reduce the administrative burdens that eligible people face,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study\u2019s senior author is Brad Wright, associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Co-authors, all of Duke University\u2019s Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, include research associate David Anderson; managing associate Rebecca Whitaker; and associate professor of pediatrics and public policy Charlene Wong. This work was supported by a grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories is-style-card has-two sphnews-block-editorial-relatedstories\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-title\">Related<\/h3>\n\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"600\" height=\"362\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/medicaid-policy-1.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>policy<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2021\/medicaid-policy-lab-advances-research-with-a-health-equity-focus\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">BU Medicaid Policy Lab Advances Research with a Health Equity Focus<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">April 30, 2021<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Within the first few months of the pandemic, the US unemployment rate skyrocketed from 3.8 percent in February 2020 to 13 percent in April 2020, quickly surpassing total job losses from the entire two years of the Great Recession. Millions of people who were forced out of the workforce lost both income and employer-sponsored health [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15205,"featured_media":202401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"medicaid","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[2548,2317,1616,3380,2015],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3526,3531,3535,3540],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[3286],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/202399"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202399"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/202399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":202550,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/202399\/revisions\/202550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202399"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=202399"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=202399"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=202399"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=202399"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=202399"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=202399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}