:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/6J2MSKMZXVHOPBVWSD6OTX7KIU.jpg)
Striking shipbuilders are losing health coverage in pandemic
Read full article: Striking shipbuilders are losing health coverage in pandemicPORTLAND, Maine The stakes are growing in a strike against Navy shipbuilder Bath Iron Works during a global pandemic as company-provided health insurance is running out for 4,300 shipbuilders who've left their jobs. Keeping health insurance through the so-called COBRA program can cost up to a couple of thousand dollars a month. Others said they will simply do without health insurance. Kelley Hammond, a 58-year-old marine electrician, opted to forgo purchasing insurance and filled a blood pressure prescription Tuesday, before the expiration of the companys insurance. The shipyard is already about six months behind scheduled, partly because of the pandemic, and it will need subcontractors to help get back on schedule, Bath Iron Works President Dirk Lesko has said.