COBRA coverage until the age of 65 ?

[EmeraldCityGrl]

OK. this may be a bit of good news for a few.
House Approves COBRA Premium Subsidy for Jobless Workers


"The legislation would also give COBRA-eligible workers who are 55 and older, or have worked for an employer for 10 or more years, the ability to retain COBRA coverage, at their own expense, until they become Medicare eligible at age 65 or secure coverage through a subsequent employer."

http://hr.blr.com/news.aspx?id=79518

[nichomachus]

1. Cool -- you're unemployed and you can spend $600 a months on health insurance

COBRA isn't free. In fact, most unemployed people can't afford it. My COBRA cost me $500 a month and that was five years ago. When your income is $300 a week on unemployment, that's a little tough.

[terisan]

4. They are planning a hefty subsidy that is essentially a worker bailout on healthcare. nt

[davekriss]

22. yes, they pay 2/3, we pay 1/3 first 12 months

For many of us that means our insurance pay is about what we pay now as employees or in some cases a little less. That would be a Godsend for many of us who get laid off.

[Retrograde]

10. It's still cheaper than the alternatives

I hope this goes through: Mr. Retrograde was laid off at 54+, and while we planned for early retirement, this would save us a few $100 per month over private insurance.

C'mon, Congress, please pass this!

[cap]

2. cept it depends on some assumptions

that if you are a couple, that the older worker would be the one carrying COBRA and not the younger worker. It says nothing about being a dependent on someone else's plan.

[tritsofme]

3. The main thing here is the 65% subsidy for COBRA payments

for up to 12 months.

That is going to be a huge difference for many people between insurance and no insurance during this recession.

But who in the world would want to make COBRA payments for 10 years?

[dflprincess]

5. Most people who have lost coverage because they've been laid off

aren't going to be able to afford any part of the COBRA. This is just a another way to avoid real reform.

[tritsofme]

8. Its certainly a band-aid.

But as far as immediate relief goes, anything helps.

[dflprincess]

11. It doesn't do any good at all if people still can't afford it. (eom)

[prolesunited]

15. Not true

that measure will make the difference in whether we keep the house or not and I'm sure I'm not alone. A lot of people are used to paying for some of their health insurance, just not footing the whole bill.

[roamer65]

6. Utter fucking garbage.

When will they get it through their thick skulls that single payor socialized medicine is the best route????

[Warpy]

7. Great, you're kicked out of a job that pays all the bills

and end up working 16 hours a day, two full time low paid jobs, the second job going entirely to buy your health insurance.

Because you are put into a "group" in the beginning, as that group gets sicker, the premiums will go up (and with everybody working 2 jobs to buy it, you bet they'll get sicker). Healthy younger people will drop out because they'll find employment or be offered a plan with another group. You have just entered the "insurance death spiral" AIDS patients know so well, insurance becoming completely unaffordable because everybody in the arbitrary "group" you signed up with is either sick or has left.

This is entirely wrongheaded. What they need to do is offer Medicare to people over 55 who have lost their insurance, payment on a sliding scale.

And that should be a stepping stone to offering it to all of us.

[ikojo]

9. Who can afford it?

Eight years ago COBRA was going to cost me over $300 for single coverage. That is more than a week's unemployment in MO.

[williesgirl]

12. I hope they do this one fast. We lose our COBRA in April and really need it. rec'd

[shari]

13. I believe

you can get Cobra for 12 months and then another 6 months at a higher premium. At least that's what it was a couple of years ago, 18 months total.

[Coyote_Bandit]

14. Six years ago

when I was laid off the COBRA coverage through my previous employer was nearly $1000 per month for a single person aged 40 something. Comparable individual coverage through a private carrier was about $200 per month.

[prolesunited]

17. It really depends on your employer pool

and your own health situation. It sounds like your employer group must have had some expensive conditions or higher utilization that caused it to raise the rates so high.

If you have any pre-exiting medical conditions, or multiple ones even if they are kept in check by meds, you're virtually uninsurable. And you're not going to get anything but a catastrophic care policy for that much now.

[Blue Diadem]

16. How kind of them.

They still haven't been able to figure out that most people can't afford COBRA after they lose their jobs? It may help those who already have money or get a hefty severance package but it's certainly not something the working poor can afford.

[aquart]

20. They keep planning for only the upper middle class to survive.

[aquart]

18. "At their own expense"? IOW, useless.

People will die because of these miserable, paperwork nightmare patches.

[Sgent]

19. This means that many people can retire

or cutback, when previously they had to keep the job until 63.5 for the insurance (they were uninsurable).

Its a good modification. Even if its not a fix, its better than the current situation.

[zeos3]

21. Crappy idea

First, let me say single payer is the way to go. If single payer is, in my opinion, the best way to go then this COBRA extension is near the opposite end of the spectrum.

It's been my experience that a comparable individual plan is almost always cheaper. I understand that the 12 month subsidy will help out a lot of people but this is no solution to the problem.

If we're going to implement a half assed solution that doesn't really help solve the problem, a slightly less terrible idea is to eliminate exclusions for pre existing conditions so that people can truly have some portability with their individual coverage. In other words: as long as you have existing coverage (group or individual), don't allow the insurance company to deny coverage or exclude the condition for which the coverage is needed. At least people can shop around for better rates and not be stuck with the same company that will rate increase them (literally) to death.

Even less terrible still: limit the amount a new carrier can rate chronically ill individuals premium vs a health persons premium (let me pull a 10%-20% figure out of my ass).

Notice, I didn't call these great ideas. They are simply less terrible than the COBRA idea.

If we're gonna be taking baby steps with this issue, let's make sure they're in the right direction and actually helpful.