About 60 percent of working-age Americans get their health insurance through an employer, and when an estimated 15 million working adults lost their jobs and health benefits between 2008 and 2010, 57 percent — or roughly 9 million — became uninsured. Few people decide to continue their coverage through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act because former employees must pay the full insurance premium plus two percent.
While 72 percent of people who lost jobs and their health insurance benefits skipped over needed healthcare, 72 percent also reported problems with medical bills, such as not being able to pay their bills, being contacted by a collections agency on their unpaid bills and even changing their way of living to pay those bills.
Working adults who lost employer-based benefits and were uninsured also faced several consequences due to those unpaid medical bills: 32 percent used up all of their savings, 27 percent were unable to pay for necessities such as food or rent and 9 percent took out a mortgage against their home or took out a new loan.
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