The daily brief I read about talks about how specifically one woman named Michelle Moen lost her job and health insurance.

1. Kaiser Health News Morning Briefing

From Kaiser Health News Morning Briefing, an interest group that has been mentioned in one of the briefs are the mentally ill. According to Huff (2020), the COVID pandemic has increased the chances of individuals suffering from mental health with patients suffering from COVID having their family suffering mentally. This is based on the fear an uncertainty that is associated with COVID. The deaths being recorded as a result of COVID are something to worry about especially in the United States. This is since one is not sure of whether any person diagnosed with the disease will recovery and lead a healthy life. The uncertainty of re-infection is also an issue that results in mental torture and the need to ensure that there urgent and effective medical attention is accorded to the COVID patients. Interest in this piece is thus in understanding the need to consider the concerns of close friends and family of a patient. It is important to understand that even though family and friends to a sick patient are not sick, they are impacted mentally and psychologically by what the patient is undergoing.

Categorization provided in the brief according to politics and politicians includes briefs in the recently concluded presidential election involving Joe Biden and President Trump. On this concern, the loss of SCOTUS by democrats is also highlighted. On the category of access to health care, concern is on the need to ensure healthcare access by the minority groups. On health care insurance, a brief is provided on why workers who have lost jobs due to the COVID pandemic may need help in getting coverage. The category on healthcare legislation is highlighted by the brief touching on the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Reference

Huff, C. (2020). Mental health – Kaiser health news. Retrieved from https://khn.org/topics/mental-health/

2. The daily brief I read about talks about how specifically one woman named Michelle Moen lost her job and health insurance. The brief goes on to talk about others who are facing similar trials. The interest group that is mentioned in the brief are currently those uninsured due to being unemployed due to COVID 19. Moen’s interest in this brief is that she actually lost both her job and health insurance, and she was later developed with a rare kidney condition. To add to that, her husband had also lost his job as well. The two had a hard time trying to find new coverage which is when she decided to use the Affordable Care Act also known as the insurance marketplace to try and find some coverage for herself. According to the brief, “Moen is one of millions of Americans who have been dropped from their jobs and their employer-provided health insurance since March.” (Findlay, 2020)

Categorize the issues in the brief according to the following—politics and politicians, access to health care, health care insurance, health care legislation, money, drugs, or other.

There are many categories that can be discussed with this current issue in the brief. For example, when it comes to politics and politicians, there was a governor in Wisconsin who had to shift a large amount of funds to make up for the decrease in federal funds. Also, in New York, there governor made it a priority for workers to help residents to enroll in Medicaid. When it comes to access to healthcare at this time, It is very limited. The demand for more resources is greater than the market is able to keep up with at this time. Many organizations and companies simply just don’t have the resources. Health care insurance for individuals are being lost due to companies increase in unemployment, layoffs, and actual closings. Many people are unable to afford healthcare directly out of pocket when they don’t have a job to provide the funds needed. With the healthcare legislation, this brief mentions the federal Affordable Care Act which is considered an insurance marketplace. Michelle Moan was able to go online to use this to find some aid that she qualified for. The brief also mentions how many have been to use the ACA to find alternate health coverage. When it comes to the money regarding this health care crisis, the brief mentions many ways that it comes into play. For example, the Trump administration has been able to award grants equaling $10 million to assist in the ACA enrollment platform. It also states that places like West Virginia, New Hampshire, Iowa and Montana have a federal grant per state of just $100,000. Lastly, the executive director of Covered California mentioned that $140 million out of the budget will go to outreach and marketing for health care insurance.

Findlay, S. (2020, November 12). Workers Who Lost Jobs Due to COVID May Need Help Getting Coverage This Fall. https://khn.org/news/workers-who-lost-jobs-due-to-covid-may-need-help-getting-coverage-this-fall/.