A study by the non-partisan consumer advocacy group Families USA found that 5.4 million Americans lost their health insurance during the first three months of the pandemic, the largest such increase since such statistics have been tracked, reports The New York Times.
The figure is 40% greater than the previous record high, which happened during the Great Recession of 2008-09 when 3.9 million Americans lost their health insurance.
Forty-six percent of those losing their insurance live in five states: California, Texas, Florida, New York, and North Carolina. In Texas alone, 700,000 people lost their insurance.
According to the Times, “23 percent of laid off workers became uninsured. The percentage was nearly double that — 43 percent — in the 13 states that did not expand Medicaid, which include Texas, Florida and North Carolina.”
Prior to his inauguration, President Trump promised he’d introduce a plan that would provide “insurance for everybody.” Such a plan has yet to be introduced by the Administration.