One of the pillars in the health insurance system will soon end. COBRA the program that allows workers to keep their company's health insurance plan after they leave their job has been schedule to end.
The health insurance subsidy which was part of the the economic stimulus bill President Obama signed in February accounted for the cost of COBRA by 65% for workers laid off after September 1 of last year. But the subsidy only lasted nine months. Given the state of the economy, the American people are looking onto congress to act.
Advocacy group Families USA says the average family using COBRA will see their insurance premiums jump from $389 per month to more than $1,100 per month.
According to Arkansas News Online "Under the economic stimulus bill that President Barack Obama signed in February, the government cut by 65 percent the price tag that the unemployed pay for insurance premiums under the COBRA program.
Seven million workers who lost their jobs have used the subsidy to continue their health insurance through Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. COBRA allows a laid-off worker to continue his coverage for up to 18 months by paying his share of the premium and the share his former employer paid."
http://www.southtownstar.com "This will get more stringent for those without jobs if the economy does not improve quickly and all are looking to congress for swift measures to remedy the situation.
On average, unemployed families will see premiums rise from $389 per month to more than $1,100, according to the organization, a nonprofit group focused on health care.
For families living on monthly unemployment benefits, the burgeoning COBRA bill will grow to 82 percent of their monthly income, the organization said.
Bonita Zalewa, of Palos Hills, is one of the many who saw her health coverage costs jump.
At 62 and unemployed for more than a year, her monthly bill went from $103 to $288 starting last month after her subsidy lapsed. In January, it's set to increase again, to $303 per month.
She began a part-time position recently in the retail market, a job dedicated to paying for her health insurance's new price tag.
The Congressional Budget Office and Joint Tax Committee estimates she is one of 7 million people who benefited from the subsidies this year, according to the Families USA report."
