Senators Seek to Extend COBRA Subsidy
United States Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced the COBRA Subsidy Extension and Enhancement Act last week. The proposed legislation extends the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009, which established a nine-month subsidy to assist unemployed workers purchase healthcare coverage for themselves and their families.
The proposed bill would:
1) extend the allowable time an individual could receive the subsidy from nine (9) months to 15 months;
2) extend the subsidy to individuals who are involuntarily terminated up to June 30, 2010 (under ARRA, eligibility for the subsidy would expire December 1, 2009);
3) extend the subsidy to individuals who are not only involuntarily terminated but to those whose hours are reduced to a point where they would be ineligible for employer-sponsored health benefits; and
4) increase the subsidy amount from 65% to 75%.
The bill has been referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committees.
The text of the bill may be found at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s2730is.txt.pdf.