COBRA help for laid-off workers may come by Christmas

[babylonsister]

COBRA help for laid-off workers may come by Christmas

By Jenny Gold | Kaiser Health News


WASHINGTON — Laid-off workers may soon get a reprieve from one of their worries: health insurance.

A proposal to extend the health insurance subsidies for Americans who have lost jobs in the recession is one step closer to gaining congressional approval. The proposal, which passed the House of Representatives Wednesday night, is tacked onto both the House defense appropriations and jobs-creation bills and would give some unemployed Americans an extra six months of help paying for their COBRA coverage.

Congress has been under increasing pressure to extend the subsidy, which was first created in last spring's American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, and the Senate could act on the Defense bill as soon as Saturday.

Federal law requires employers to offer continued health insurance to laid-off workers for as long as 18 months, though employees usually pay the full cost. The average monthly COBRA premium for a family costs $1,137, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KHN is a program of the foundation). That's more than 83 percent of the average unemployment check, according to a study by Families USA, a consumer advocacy organization.

The federal government has been paying 65 percent of the costs of extended health insurance for Americans laid off after September 2008, bringing the average cost down to a more manageable $398 per month. Early on, the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that about 7 million people could be covered at a cost of almost $25 billion, though it's not clear how many people have gotten subsidies.

The subsidy was designed to last nine months. As a result, the assistance began to expire for some workers Nov. 30, leaving them to pay the full cost themselves. And the deadline for signing up, Dec. 31, is fast approaching.

The Defense appropriation bill, which has the best chance for speedy passage, would extend the sign-up deadline until the end of February. The Jobs bill, which will likely work its way through Congress early next year, would extend it until the end of June 2010. Both would lengthen the nine-month subsidy to 15 months and would be retroactive for those who already timed out.

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[LaydeeBug]

1. COBRA is an effing JOKE. Completely unaffordable. Completely. nt

[PSPS]

2. COBRA affords far better rates than individual coverage

At least with COBRA, you pay the group rate your former employer paid which can be as little as half of what you'd pay for individual coverage.

Of course, this COBRA subsidy really amounts to nothing more than a money laundering scheme whereby the private insurance racket gets money from the treasury to "cover" you (provided you never make a claim which they'll deny anyway) and this money is largely used for things like bribes for congress and gold-plated toilet seats for the CEO.

[amyrose2712]

3. Unfortunately, the subsidy is the only way I've ...

been able to keep my insurance. The payment is going from $185/month to $520/month when it runs out this month.

[CurtEastPoint]

5. My Cobra is going from 203 now to 617 in January...

UNLESS this passes. I hope it does. Every little bit helps.

[Vinca]

4. While I'm happy for people who might get some relief,

I am also pissed off that I've been priced out of insurance for years and Medicare COULD be opened up to all Monday morning so I (and my 47 million friends) don't have to fret about dying a slow, agonizing death.