Toward the end of last year, Congress extended the COBRA subsidy provision. The original subsidy program applied only to those who were involuntarily terminated from September 1, 2008, through December 31, 2009. These former employees were entitled to a 65% subsidy of their continuing health insurance premiums for up to nine months. The extension increased the duration of the subsidy to 15 months. It also extended the eligibility period to include those who were involuntarily terminated through February 28, 2010. If you don't have your calendar in front of you, that was two days ago.
Last week,...
After the Senate finally convinced Senator Jim Bunning to stand down his one-man protest (covered in my previous post), Congress passed -- and the President signed -- an extension of the COBRA subsidy last week. (You can find the bill, called "The Temporary Extension Act of 2010," here.) The extension is clearly a stopgap measure: It lasts only until the end of this month (March), by which time Congress hopes to have passed a more comprehensive jobs bill that will keep the subsidy in effect through the end of this year.
But the one-month extension of the subsidy wasn't t...
We've heard a lot in the past week about President Obama's proposed budget, unveiled in conjunction with his State of the Union speech last week. Topic number one seems to be how the budget plan would affect the national deficit. Apparently of quite a bit less interest, judging by the limited press it's received, is the proposal to extend the COBRA subsidy through 2010.
It's been reported that the budget proposal would make the subsidy available to those who are involuntarily terminated from March 1, 2010, through the end of the year. These folks would be eligible for up to 12 months of subsidized health care continuation (employees who are involuntarily terminated u...
Over the weekend, the Senate passed a defense spending bill that included -- among many other things -- an extension of the COBRA premium subsidy provision that's about to expire. (You can find the entire bill at the website of the Library of Congress; search for the bill number, H.R. 3326, then skip ahead to Section 1010). The House already passed the bill, and it's been sent to the President for signing.
Currently, the COBRA subsidy allows those who are involuntarily terminated from September 1, 2008, through December 31, 2009 to receive a subsidy of 65% of their COBRA premium payments for up to nine months. The subsidy went into effect on March 1, 2009, which means ...
