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This post examines the data about workers' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and finds that both on-site and at-home workers are facing challenges, though frontline and essential workers, as well as women and workers of color, face disproportionate impacts.
Four in Ten Parents Say Someone in Their Household Left a Job or Worked Fewer Hours to Care for Their Children, Including Higher Shares of Black, Hispanic, and Lower-income Parents As a result of the pandemic, about four in ten (39%) parents of school-aged children (ages 5-17) say at least one of their children fell…
This report examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the wellbeing of parents and children. It finds that more than one-third of parents say their child fell behind academically or in their social and emotional development as a result of the pandemic. This report also examines the mental health and wellbeing of parents whose household experienced an employment disruption due to childcare needs and of children who attended school at least partially online.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to promote state adoption of work and reporting requirements as a condition of Medicaid eligibility for certain nonelderly adults, although several such waivers have been set aside by federal courts. While most Medicaid adults are already working, some states and health plans have developed voluntary work support programs for nonelderly adults who qualify for Medicaid through non-disability pathways. These programs offer services that support work without conditioning Medicaid eligibility on having a job. This brief examines opportunities for and limitations on federal and state support of such programs, highlights several state and health plan initiatives, and explores their common themes.
Rates of self-reported long COVID are one-quarter to one-third higher among adults who are female, transgender, Hispanic, and without a high-school degree than among all adults, according to federal survey data. In this policy watch, we consider whether long COVID could exacerbate existing disparities in health and employment.
With unemployment claims rising amid the COVID-19 crisis, this post examines options for people who lose job-based coverage and steps policymakers could take to smooth their transitions.
As the COVID-19 pandemic grows, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health officials recommend that people who are sick should stay home. Benefits such as sick leave and family leave can help employees follow these guidelines; however, the U.S. does not have national standards on paid family or sick leave. The lack of a national policy means some employees are forced to take unpaid leave, or come to work when they are ill, which could have public health consequences.
Concerns over the potential spread of the coronavirus have refocused attention on the leave policies of employers. Lower-wage workers are much more likely to lack access to paid sick leave makes their economic decisions more acute.
This Waiver Watch summarizes the recent history of work requirements, the current status of Georgia’s waiver, and key state and federal issues to watch.
In this May 2020 post for The JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt explores how the massive and rapid job losses of the past few months will test the ACA’s coverage safety net – and how different policies could strengthen or weaken it.
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