Only one in five U.S. unemployed, moderate- to low-income workers has private health care, according to a report released Friday by the nonpartisan Families USA. The study also found that among those workers who had lost their jobs, just one in four had health coverage through Medicaid or another public program. Moderate to low income was defined as 200 percent below the federal poverty level, or $44,100 or below annual income for a family of four.

The data are reflected in the growing number of uninsured patients seeking care these days at Matthew 25 Health and Dental Clinic, 413 E. Jefferson Blvd., said Nancy Schenkel, executive director. Before the doors even open some days, patients - particularly those seeking emergency dental care - are lined up outside waiting.

“We can take the first eight walk-ins. We can tell which ones need immediate care because their faces are swollen and they're in pain,” she said. Other dental patients have scheduled appointments. About 135 patients are being seen daily between the medical and dental clinics, and due to the recent surge, “We're booking new patients into the first week of April now,” she said.

In addition to the economy, the free Matthew 25 has seen a jump in numbers because the ASK Clinic closed recently. The board of directors of the free clinic at 2513 S. Calhoun St. announced Dec. 22 that ASK was closing temporarily to “reorganize,” but no date has been given for when - or if - the clinic will reopen. ASK had a special clinic for Burmese refugees, and Matthew 25, which also has a Burmese clinic day, is considering starting a second one. Fort Wayne has 4,000 to 5,000 Burmese refugees.

Federal unemployment figures released Friday show the number of unemployed individuals jumped from 11.2 million to 11.6 million between December and January. The ripple effect is that the uninsured put off even essential care for chronic diseases.

Matthew 25 medical director Dr. Jeffrey Walker told Schenkel recently that the complexity of problems the clinic sees is not something seen routinely in private practices.

Staff and volunteers see and hear other indicators of the struggling economy such as families doubling up on housing or five or more young adults living together to share expenses.

COBRA benefits, which allow displaced workers to keep employer-sponsored insurance at full cost to the employee, are too costly for most, Ron Pollack said during Families USA's teleconference Friday on the report. Pollack is executive director of the organization

“The average COBRA premium consumes approximately 84 percent of unemployment benefits,” Pollack said. In some cases, workers' companies have closed for good, so they cannot obtain COBRA.

Programs such as Indiana's Healthy Indiana Plan for uninsured adults are filling the gap for some people, and Matthew 25 is more aggressively helping people sign up for HIP, Medicaid or other government benefits. But the agency's 42 paid employees and hundreds of medical and non-medical volunteers can hardly keep up.

“We need money and volunteers,” Schenkel said, echoing the cry of clinics across the nation that serve the uninsured.

Even with HIP, 76,000 Hoosier workers remain uninsured, according to December data published in the Families USA report.

Schenkel sees the scared, bewildered looks of the unemployed-uninsured who for the first time are seeking care at Matthew 25. She said they are asking, “‘How did I get to this point?' ”