Rural Wisconsin workers are losing health insurance twice as fast as before the pandemic. According to a recent analysis, the link between job loss and insurance loss has never been stronger for thousands of rural residents.

Unemployment and Insurance Loss

Using county-level data from all 72 Wisconsin counties between 2014 and 2023, the analysis found that a one percentage point rise in county unemployment was tied to roughly a 0.21 percentage point rise in lack of insurance before the pandemic. After the pandemic, that same increase pushed lack of insurance up by 0.55 percentage points. The relationship more than doubled.

The vulnerability is mostly outside of cities. In Wisconsin’s 46 nonmetropolitan counties, the unemployment-coverage link is strong and statistically significant. In the 26 metropolitan counties, which include the Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, and Fox Valley metro areas, the same statistical model finds no significant relationship at all.

Possible Solutions

Three state-level actions could directly reduce the harm. First, completing the BadgerCare Plus expansion to 138% of poverty would automatically cover workers in the transition zone when they lose their jobs. Second, investing in rural enrollment navigators and renewal pathways that do not assume broadband would help. Third, building administrative stability into BadgerCare Plus renewals would prevent procedural disenrollments from stripping coverage from people who remain eligible.

Original reporting: Wisconsin Watch — read the source article.