About 1,300 to 2,500 furloughed workers at MotorCity Casino Hotel in Detroit were at risk of losing their employer-sponsored health insurance as of August 1.
MotorCity, along with Greektown Casino-Hotel and MGM Grand Detroit, has remained closed since March 16 under executive orders from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The three casinos employ nearly 6,000 people.
MotorCity President Bruce Dall said, “Our casino continues to be closed due to government orders, without a firm reopening date. Given this uncertainty, to protect the long-term viability of the casino, we have made the difficult decision to lay off the majority of our staff and end benefits, effective at the end of the day on July 31.”
The MotorCity employees, like all unemployed workers, also will lose unemployment benefits of $600 a week under the CARES Act, which were set to expire July 31.
The laid-off MotorCity workers can continue receiving some form of health care coverage under COBRA, a continuation of employer-sponsored health insurance under which a laid-off worker pays the full cost of their coverage, typically for 18-36 months after a layoff.
“COBRA is an option, but most of the time it’s not affordable to people because the cost of paying the employer’s share is so high,” said Samantha Iovan, a senior analyst at the Center for Health & Research Transformation in Ann Arbor.
Another option is a plan through Obamacare, sold on Healthcare.gov. These plans usually are much cheaper than COBRA plans if the individual and his or her family qualify for the plans’ federal subsidies.
Medicaid is the cheapest insurance option, but is generally only available to those laid-off workers who qualify as low income or are pregnant or are over age 65. The maximum allowable income is 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which is about $16,000 for a single person or $33,000 for a family of four. However, Medicaid is not universally accepted.
Health insurance for furloughed MGM Grand Detroit workers will continue through August 31, a spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Greektown Casino-Hotel, owned by Penn National Gaming, said the matter is under discussion.
In early June, the Michigan Gaming Control Board approved new health and safety guidelines for the Detroit casinos’ eventual reopening, including limiting properties to 15 percent occupancy, prohibiting smoking and closing poker tables and buffets. Casino hotels also have remained closed.
MotorCity’s Dall said, “We take great pride in all of our hardworking associates who have provided such tremendous service to our guests and we regret the terrible burden that this pandemic has brought to each of them.”
Detroit officials estimated the city is losing about $600,000 a day in casino gaming taxes because of the shutdown.
Several of the state’s 24 tribal casinos have reopened.
