Mina Rismani: Falling into the coverage gap
You may be familiar with the health care crisis and coverage gap that has affected our country’s millions of poor, uninsured adults who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to be able to afford private health insurance or qualify for marketplace subsidies. But do you know how the gap has affected our community?
In Spartanburg County alone, nearly 13,000 people don’t qualify for marketplace subsidies and tax credits. Nationally, these apply only to individuals living between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. This measure leaves a significant percentage of people unable to afford health insurance and thus creates what is called the “coverage gap.”