To be honest, I think many of us take health insurance for granted. You get out of college, apply for a job, lazily negotiate your salary, then ask…..”what about the benefits?” For anyone with a “good” job, it’s just kind of a given, right? You get your 401k match, a couple weeks of vacation, and the standard medical, dental, vision package. But that doesn’t work for everyone. In fact, about 1/3 of working adults in Louisiana get their health insurance through other means. What gives?

1> Insurance is mostly tied to your job, and you may have noticed…..unemployment has skyrocketed. To be fair, many of those lost jobs in April and May have been won back, but a lot haven’t, too. Lose your job = lose your insurance. COBRA does protect individuals, but only so much as they are allowed to continue paying the entire cost on their own once they’ve lost a job. If you’ve seen your COBRA rates, they’re ugly.

2> Insurance isn’t just tied to jobs, but GOOD jobs. When you look around New Orleans, for example, you’ll see businesses close and shutter, but who is really affected? Attorneys, engineers, doctors, and accountants have mostly stayed safe. The affected jobs are mostly in the hospitality sector. Musicians, bartenders, servers, cooks, housekeepers…..these jobs primarily employ people of color, and those with less education and experience. In other words, they’re the most vulnerable — and now they’re laid off without affordable access to health care. Talk about a double whammy.

3> The health statistics in Louisiana are overwhelming. But for the grace of God and Mississippi, I don’t believe this state is dead last in any vital statistic, we’re only 49th. And when you drill down even further, you’ll be even more alarmed. People of color are hit even harder by heart disease, diabetes, food insecurity, obesity, cancer, and on and on. Our most vulnerable population needs health insurance and health care the most, but overall has a tougher time getting access. Yikes!

What can be done?

If you are reading this, and you know someone who is having trouble affording health care, immediately put them in contact with www.healthcare.gov. They may qualify for a subsidy on the ACA exchange. Better yet, they may qualify for Medicaid. Also, have them reach out to low cost community partners like Access Health, who provide health care on a sliding scale. THERE IS HELP!