Peacock Tales
Volume 20, Number 1 · January 2010COBRA Subsidy Extended
Thousand of jobless workers will continue to receive the COBRA subsidy in 2010 due to last minute actions taken by Congress at the end of 2009. Under the federal law known as COBRA, employees who are involuntarily terminated from their jobs can continue their health insurance coverage for a period of up to 18 months. However, the employee was required to pay the entire premium for their coverage, a costly hurdle when facing unemployment.
The economic stimulus package passed in February 2009 included a provision to help unemployed workers. Those who qualified could receive COBRA premium assistance of 65 percent of the premium for a period of nine months. But the assistance program was open only to people who lost their jobs through the end of last year. A defense spending bill signed into law on December 19th expands the Now, people who were laid off between September 1, 2009 and February 28, 2010 will qualify. It also adds six months to the subsidy, extending coverage assistance for a total of 15 months.