Thao Nguyen, Director of Outreach

by Thao Nguyen, Outreach Manager
National Women’s Law Center

This post is part of a series on Women and Health Reform.

My memories of the last recession are as follows:

My father was laid off from a job he had worked for over a decade. My mom, who had just started her own childcare business, had to take a second job – working nearly 80 hours a week in order to ensure that she could receive health benefits for our family.

In a country where most people receive their health insurance from their employers, losing a job is not only bad for the pocketbook but potentially harmful to your health. A recent article in the NY Times highlighted the increase in uninsured Americans as the economy continues to shed a record-breaking number of jobs. The stories were heartbreaking – a woman taking chances on her and her baby’s health to give birth before her insurance is cut off, families forgoing basic health care needs in order to put food on the table. And these types of stories will most certainly shadow us as the economy continues to sour.

Guaranteed quality, affordable and comprehensive health care for women and their families is an even greater priority than before. Millions of women and their families must not be left to choose between the broken individual health insurance market (where people buy coverage directly from insurance companies) and going without health insurance altogether. As women and their family members continue to lose their sources of income and health insurance, the struggle to meet basic needs becomes more intense. Without adequate and affordable health insurance, families can add insurmountable medical bills and long-term health issues to their list of worries, right next to shrinking retirement funds and impending foreclosures. The financial and health-related consequences of being uninsured will only worsen families’ economic stability.