Thursday, April 23, 2009

Layoffs Equate to Loss of Health Insurance


Losing a job is tough. If you are lucky, you will get a severance package that includes some pay and health insurance. But, what happens when that runs out? COBRA, the health insurance option offered to people who lose their health benefits, is expensive. And, it’s hard to make those payments when you’re on unemployment.

Lynn Brumby knows this first hand. She always had health insurance. “From the day I was born, until I was 53, I had insurance,“ said Brumby. That is, until she lost her job as a marketing counselor at Appalachian Christian Village.

“I knew i needed it because I had just been diagnosed with diabetes,“ said Brumby. She got the paperwork for COBRA, but realized she could not afford it, or expensive visits to the emergency room, on unemployment.

“I was at my wits end, I didn’t know what to do, I thought what am I going to do, I’m sick, where am I going to go,“ said Brumby. As unemployment rates continue to rise, the number of people in Brumby’s shoes grows larger.

“With the loss of insurance, a lot of people are not sure where to turn to for their health care,“ said Susan Reed, the Clinic Director at the Johnson City Downtown Clinic. In Johnson City, many of them are turning to the Downtown Clinic.

“I think they saved my life,“ said Brumby. “No one is denied care because of inability to pay, no one is turned away because of finances,“ said Reed. “We have seen an increase in the recently laid off, recently lost their jobs, which equates to I’ve recently lost my insurance,“ said Reed.

The clinic recently got $161,000 in federal stimulus money. Specifically, the money will be used to educate people who have recently lost their jobs about what the clinic can do to help them. “That’s going to enable us to maintain our level of staffing, it’s going to enable us to increase the amount of services that we’re providing,“ said Reed. To find out more click play above.

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