‘It feels like we are still hostages’: Federal contractors who lost health insurance during shutdown remain in limbo
For one firm, the tight margins of federal work meant it wasn’t able to pay its health insurance premium, leading to a lapse in coverage for employees who also lost five weeks of wages. Now they’re bracing for the possibility of another shutdown after Feb. 15.
Janice Morgan, a federal contractor out of work because of the government shutdown, spent part of January fearing that she might finally lose her husband, Milton, to his battle with multiple sclerosis. He was in intensive care. An infection had sent his heart rate and blood pressure soaring. And when she tried nine days ago to fill his prescription for a $7,600-a-month medication, another blow came: Her insurance coverage had been canceled.
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