“The Great Recession of 2007-09 is the longest and deepest macroeconomic downturn in the United States since 1933,” they write. “This paper documents the impact of higher unemployment rates on one important outcome: health insurance coverage.”
The study finds that roughly nine times as many Americans lost health insurance coverage in the recession of 2007-09 as in the previous recession of 2001. The 9.3 million figure is the difference in the number of adults with insurance coverage at the macroeconomic peak in December 2007 compared to the trough of June 2009. The number who lost coverage as a result of the recession is undoubtedly higher due to “churn” in the ranks of the uninsured, the authors say.
The study also estimates that 4.2 million children under the age of 18 gained health insurance coverage during the recession, supporting the idea that government health insurance programs work counter-cyclically, as intended as part of the social safety net. As parents lose jobs and income, more children qualify for coverage through Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Programs.