Job loss is hitting Black women hard, restricting their access to health insurance and medical care. 600,000 Black women have been shoved out of the workforce through what reports have deemed a series of catastrophic layoffs, targeted terminations, and systemic discrimination efforts. In the absence of universal basic healthcare, that’s dangerous. Here are the challenges they are facing.
Going From Insured to Uninsured
Millions of Americans are unemployed. The connection between full-time employment and health insurance makes job loss even more impactful.
“The uninsured are less likely than the insured to have a regular source of care, less likely to receive preventive care, and less likely to benefit from early detection of medical problems,” according to a 2022 article from the International Journal of Medical and Oral Research. We spoke with Black women who lost their health insurance after being let go to find out how they were navigating the change in their health insurance status.
Facing a New Reality
Courtney Graham lost her coverage in October of 2025, after being laid off that August. She rescheduled a follow-up with her OB-GYN. “I was able to get in literally, like, a day or two before I lost coverage,” she explained. She was given information about her ovarian cysts at the appointment, but she was not told her options. She described the experience as “nerve-wracking.” That was not her only health concern. “I also have eczema. I was running out of my prescription,” she added.
She spent her newfound time supporting a family member struggling with an illness. That came with complications. Potential germs scared her. “That also made me nervous because I’m in the hospital, in a rehab center,” she said. “If I were to get sick…”
Naomi Jennings lost coverage in December of 2024. She began freelancing when her job search did not pan out immediately. Jennings sought insurance coverage, but her work ethic kept her from accessing care. “I applied for the government insurance and got denied,” she says. “I made too much money, even though I had no health insurance.”
She was unable to reschedule an upcoming skin biopsy appointment. It cost her $5,000. “I am still paying monthly out of pocket.”
Emergency Funds Have to be Reallocated
Candice Fredrick lost her coverage in June of 2025. She had emergency savings earmarked for rent, not medical expenses, at the time. “You either go to the doctor, or you keep a roof over your head,” said Fredrick. “Sadly, this is what life looks like when you’re unemployed.”
Underemployed people can fall between the cracks of the private and public systems. “The insurance companies do offer some individual insurance rates, but it’s high,” says Jennings. “It doesn’t make any sense monthly.”
Inflation and rising housing costs are factors, too. “I feel like my choices have been dictated for me and they’re all bad,” adds Fredrick.
Graham, Fredrick, Jennings, and Oyefeso are college-educated Black women who are the demographic hit the hardest in this economic climate. They described taking extra vitamins, working out more, and avoiding jaywalking to avoid illness for financial reasons.
“I was definitely crossing at the light,” says Oyefeso.
The Challenges We Face Getting Health Coverage
Dr. Adam Aponte, MD, MSc, FAAP, the Chief Executive Officer at the East Harlem Council for Human Services, acknowledged the high costs of securing continued coverage to The Guardian following a slew of layoffs that hit New York. “It’s very unlikely that these individuals will be able to afford a marketplace plan. So many of them are going to be caught with no insurance, at least for a period of time,” he said.
Oluwadamilare Oyefeso managed to get state care following her second layoff in two years, in 2024. She was originally laid off in 2023. The experience led her to check her bias regarding public healthcare facilities. “It was just a very bizarre feeling. I was very confused,” she said. Health care professionals at Planned Parenthood helped her qualify for coverage. “It was amazing,” she continues. “I told them I didn’t have insurance, and they set me up.”
Graham regained employer-sponsored coverage in March 2026. Others are still seeking help.
Black Women Are Especially Vulnerable
The persisting wage gap in Black women’s earnings makes them particularly vulnerable to being uninsured or underinsured. You can’t save what you’re not earning. “I did not explore self-pay options,” said Graham. “I just tried to get in to see everybody right away.”
Oyefeso paid handsomely for being in crisis when a procedure she had rescheduled fell on a date she was not covered for.
“The day I got terminated, I had a root canal scheduled, and I was just so distraught from my termination that I moved it,” she explains. “I was not thinking,” she adds. “My emotions were everywhere.”
The need to regroup cost her $2000. The original price was a fourth of that.
Jennings self-pays for her optometry needs. “I just paid $600 for a pair of glasses,” she says.
Graham thinks health insurance should be severed from employment. “It’s backward because, for example, let’s say you’re having a mental health issue, you can’t maintain a good job, if you’re going through a crisis, but then you need to have a job, to have insurance, to be covered to treat that,” she said.
Americans pay higher healthcare costs on average. Oyefeso finds the universal healthcare model adopted by other nations superior.
“The fact that that’s a radical thought in the United States is like, we’ve really lost the plot.”