90,000 Virginians Lost Health Insurance in One Month Due to COVID Job Losses

The pandemic led to the largest drop in health insurance coverage in American history

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a historically devastating economic crash in the United States, resulting in the greatest health insurance losses in American history since World War II. 

According to data from Families USA, 5.4 million workers were laid off nationwide between February and March. Because health insurance coverage is tied to work, millions of Americans lost health insurance, leading to an increase of 39% in the uninsured population — higher than any annual increase ever recorded.  

Without health insurance, people are less likely to get a prompt diagnosis and treatment of serious illnesses unrelated to COVID-19, like cancer and heart disease, as well as increasing community and patient risk of contracting the potentially deadly virus. 

Virginia’s economy has been hit along with the rest of the country, leading to tens of thousands of people in the state losing their health insurance. And if Virginia had not expanded Medicaid coverage in 2019, that number would be even higher.

Below we break down the facts on how Virginia is doing with health insurance coverage, compared to other parts of the country. 

Virginia Ranks 18 in Terms of Adults Losing Their Insurance Due to Job Loss in 2020

According to data from Families USA, 643,000 Virginia adults under the age of 65 were uninsured in 2018. In May 2020, the state reported 733,000 uninsured adults, an increase of 90,000 from one month earlier.  This puts Virginia 18th in the nation in terms of how many residents lost insurance during the pandmeic. 

The ten states with the highest amount of insurance loss include California, Texas, Florida, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, Massachusetts and Ohio respectively. 

Virginia Ranks 21st in Terms of Percentage of Uninsured Adults in America

Virginia reported 14% of uninsured adults under the age of 65 in the state in May, coming in 21st compared to the rest of the country and D.C. and tied with Louisiana.

The states who lead the country in numbers are Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina and South Carolina respectively. 

Virginia Ranks 39th in Terms of an Increase Uninsured Adults Above 2018

In terms of percentage increase of adults losing their insurance between February and March, Virginia ranks 39th in comparison to the other states and the District of Columbia. According to reports, Virginia had a 14% increase in uninsured adults compared to 2018. Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana also reported 14% increase. 

Virginia Ranks 28th In Terms of COVID-19 Diagnoses Reported to the CDC

Out of 50 states, Virginia ranks 28th in terms of reported coronavirus diagnoses per 100,000 residents between July 5 and July 12 with an average of 57.8.

The states in the top ten are Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Idaho and Nevada.