Tag: unemployed Americans

The Senate just pushed the country off a cliff — and then headed for the hills

AlterNet logoDespite the pandemic-induced recession, millions of jobless Americans have been kept afloat by an uncharacteristically generous act of Congress. In addition to their state’s usual unemployment payments — usually a fraction of their previous wages — Americans have been eligible to receive and additional $600 a week, desperately needed support for people who saw their incomes crater.

But Republicans have been outraged that the payments were so generous, so they objected to legislation the Democrats passed in May to extend the program. They proposed a number of different ideas to extend the program on a more limited basis, but all these ideas came at the last minute and the GOP caucus couldn’t agree on a single plan. So on Friday, the program officially expires — meaning unemployed Americans who had been receiving a boost of $2,400 a month from the government will suddenly see those payments slashed to zero.

And now, the Senate has gone home for a long weekend. Continue reading.

Ivanka Trump’s Find Something New career campaign is more hype than help

Washington Post logoPeople who’ve lost their jobs because of the coronavirus don’t need a new website. They need better guidance.

Two rich people have decided to tell millions of unemployed people that all they need to do to feed their families and put a roof over their heads is “find something new.”

White House adviser Ivanka Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross are co-chairs of the American Policy Workforce Advisory Board, which this month launched the Find Something New ad campaign with a website aimed at helping people find a fresh career path.

The initiative didn’t go over so well on social media. In defense of the effort, the first daughter tweeted to one critic: “I suggest that you visit http://FindSomethingNew.org. This initiative is about challenging the idea the traditional 2 and 4 yr college is the only option to acquire the skills needed to secure a job. This work has never been more urgent.” Continue reading.

Emergency Health Coverage for the Unemployed and Uninsured in Response to the Pandemic and Economic Crisis

Center for American Progress logoNearly 38 million Americans have filed claims for unemployment insurance, and many more live in households in which someone has lost a job. As a result, nearly 27 million people could lose their employer coverage and become uninsured. Among this group, about half could be eligible for Medicaid, and several million more would be eligible for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, major gaps in coverage and affordability would remain. If the unemployment rate reaches 20 percent, Oliver Wyman estimates that the number of uninsured will increase by about 9 million people.

To respond to this crisis and help as many people as quickly as possible, this column proposes emergency health coverage for the unemployed and uninsured. This emergency health coverage would build on one of the most popular parts of the ACA—its Medicaid expansion—by automatically enrolling the unemployed into Medicaid. In doing so, it would guarantee immediate coverage for all of the unemployed.

By leveraging the existing Medicaid infrastructure and program rules, it is possible to rapidly enroll the unemployed in coverage in 2020 and 2021. Such a proposal could be paired with reforms that enhance premium and cost-sharing subsidies for higher-income enrollees in ACA coverage—and that could be implemented relatively quickly—in 2021. And after 2021, this proposal could form the building blocks for broader reforms that expand public coverage further and streamline the system. Continue reading.