December News- COBRA

On Dec. 19, 2009 President Barack Obama signed legislation into law to help unemployed workers acquire health insurance through their former employers’ health care plans. The law takes effect immediately. The new law provides an extra six months of federal subsidy payments that allows unemployed workers to purchase health care coverage guaranteed by the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act, better known as COBRA. The new law extends eligibility for the subsidy program for two months. The extension was added to the Department of Defense spending package, H.R. 3326, which passed the House and Senate by overwhelming margins.

The spending bill also included an amendment to provide an additional 13 to 20 weeks of unemployment benefits to American workers. Unemployment insurance benefits will increase by $25 a week as a result of the change.
The new law extends the duration of the COBRA premium subsidy payments from nine to 15 months. The law changes the eligibility of date for the program from Dec. 31, 2009 to the end of February 2010. According to the law, workers who are laid off from their jobs on or before Feb. 28 can qualify to receive the subsidy payments.