Federal govt will subsidize 65% cost of health insurance for workers who lost jobs between Sept 2008 and Dec 2009, through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).
The COBRA which was enacted in 1985 allows individuals to retain their company insurance coverage for up to 18 months after they leave their employer. Individuals who opt for COBRA coverage pay both the employee's and the employer's share of the premiums, plus a 2 percent administrative charge.
Continuation of coverage under the federal law COBRA does not apply when a company drops its group health coverage or stops coverage in a bankruptcy said Jeff Schaffer, a Fort Worth insurance broker.
If coverage under COBRA is not available, many workers are finding that they have health issues that exclude them from coverage in the private individual health-insurance market, Schaffer said.
Business groups feel that had the final stimulus bill included no expansion of COBRA things would have been different today. The original House bill would have allowed former employees who are 55 or older, or who have been with a company for 10 years, to receive health coverage through COBRA until they are eligible for Medicare at 65.
Latest News
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cobra Reform
Millions of Americans who lost their jobs prior to September 1, 2008 could not afford Cobra.
Millions more elected Cobra but have now depleted their resources and can not continue on.
Still millions more with pre-existing conditions who rely on cobra to bridge the 18 month gap between their former employers insurance and their state's high risk insurance pools are struggling to pay their premiums every month to prevent being locked out of insurance permanently.
Government Subsidized COBRA benefits
The fine print of the Health Insurance Assistance for the Unemployed Act of 2009 excludes every person whom worked for a company with fewer than 20 employees. Using US Census Bureau labor statistics from 2004, this excludes the 21,197,087 people that worked for the 5,256,114 US companies employing fewer than 20 persons. I've already contacted the NH offices of Judd Gregg, Harold Janeway, Jeanne Shaheen and Paul Hodes to see if we can pass a companion bill that mirrors this COBRA subsidy to include people (like me) who lost their job after working for a company employing fewer than 20 people. Submitted by Matt from NH.