Congress considers expanding Cobra subsidy

[n2doc]

Kathleen Pender

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Unless Congress acts soon, people who lose their jobs will also begin losing the federal subsidy for Cobra health insurance premiums starting next month.

Two bills in Congress would extend and expand the subsidy, but there is no guarantee either will pass.

These bills are important to two groups of people: those who are already receiving the subsidy and will begin reaching the end of their nine months in December, and people who get laid off next year. As it now stands, anyone who gets laid off after December, and some who get laid off after November, get no subsidy at all.

The subsidy was part of the federal stimulus act passed in February.

Under this provision, people who are involuntarily terminated between Sept. 30, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009, and are eligible to stay in their former employer's group health plan under the federal law known as Cobra, can get Uncle Sam to pay 65 percent of their premium for up to nine months. The employee pays the other 35 percent. Normally, former employees pay 100 percent of their Cobra premiums.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/21/BUQU1ANI4G.DTL

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. COBRA is a joke

Get thrown out of work and then have to pay three times more for crappy insurance just when you can least afford to do it. Thanks!

[Blue Diadem]

2. Thanks for posting this. It gives us some hope. We are on Cobra and won't be able to afford the

full Cobra premiums after the subsidy expires at the end of Dec.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. Simultaneously they should include an option to convert the coverage

automatically to a private coverage at the same rate with no re-application, etc.