House of Representatives Extends Unemployment Benefits and Subsidized COBRA
Good news for those of you unemployed. The House of Representatives today passed a temporary extension of unemployment benefits and subsidized COBRA health insurance for laid-off workers as part of a $636 billion spending defense bill. The measure was approved on 395-34 vote.
The Bill extends the COBRA subsidy by 6 months to a total of 15 months where 65% of the premium is paid by the government. This is for people who lost their jobs through February 28, 2010. People who lose their jobs after December 31, 2009 are not eligible for the subsidy. The legislation requires employers to notify current COBRA and future beneficiaries of the new 15 month premium subsidy.
Additionally, the new legislation will give beneficiaries whose subsidy expired and who didn’t pay the full premium a second chance to get coverage. For example, a beneficiary whose nine months of subsidized coverage ran out November 30 and who didn’t pay the regular unsubsidized December premium could pay the 35% premium share in January and receive coverage for December.
The Senate should pass its defense bill with the same extensions this Friday.
Other Interesting Posts
|
Join |
|
& get new posts delivered to your in-box! | ||||||
|
||||||||
