More than half of unemployed people who are actively seeking work in Georgia have no health insurance, according to Families USA, a nonprofit watchdog of health care and insurance issues. The statistic is the same as the national average, according to the group, which released a study on the issue today. Families USA says the high uninsured rate could have serious consequences for the health of people who are not working, and also for the health of their families. The organization also says unemployed workers are not able to afford COBRA coverage, where they can continue their health insurance from employers by paying for it themselves, and that in some states, Medicaid coverage for low-income people is hard or impossible to get. The unemployment rate in Georgia was 8.1 percent in December.
