Posts Tagged ‘COBRA’

Insurance: Obama signs COBRA subsidy extension

December 23rd, 2009

by Jackie Simmonds, NEJS Blog Editor

Today President Obama signed a bill extending the federal COBRA subsidy by six months. It goes into effect immediately and extends the nine-month, 65% premium subsidy for a total of 15 months.

The bill provides the following:

Extends the premium subsidy eligibility period by two months, so it will now end on February 28, 2010, instead of December 31, 2009.

Extends the period of the 65 percent COBRA subsidy from nine months to 15 months.

Establishes a transition period that applies to individuals who lost subsidies before the effective date of the Act because they received the maximum number of months of subsidies under the original subsidy provisions.

Establishes new notification requirements by group health plans or other entities.

Clarifies that eligibility and notice requirements for the subsidy are based on eligibility for COBRA due to loss of coverage because of qualifying event (involuntary termination of employment), both of which must occur during the eligibility period.

What happens to those individuals whose nine-month subsidy has run out? They are now eligible to receive an additional six months of subsidized coverage. Beneficiaries whose subsidy ran out, and who didn’t pay the full premium, will now get a second chance to opt for their original coverage.

Example: Employees whose subsidy period ran out Nov. 30 — and who didn’t pay the full insurance premium for December — can pay their 35% share in January and get retroactive coverage for December.

Information for this bulletin was taken from several articles, please refer to these documents for complete coverage of the subsidy extension.

Obama signs COBRA subsidy extension: Key changes, by Christian Schappel for HR Morning. December 23, 2009

Bulletin: 12/23/09 – COBRA Subsidy Extended, Health Insurance Reform Info & Editorial, December 23,2009

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Posted in Finances and insurance

Tags: bill COBRA COBRA subsidy health insurance House insurance involuntary termination Jackie Simmonds Jacqueline Simmonds legislation Senate

Insurance: COBRA Extension Moves One Step Closer

December 19th, 2009

by Jackie Simmonds, NEJS Blog Editor

On December 16 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the COBRA subsidy extension and expansion. The bill now goes to the Senate where expectations are they will act quickly before the premium aid program expires at the end of the year.

Earlier this year Congress had stepped in to change the existing COBRA program to provide a government paid subsidy that matched 65% of an unemployed person’s premiums for nine months per individual. That original program is set to end Dec. 31. The bill just passed in the House extends that nine-month period to 15 months. If you have already run past the nine-month period and have lost your insurance you would be able to get it back for the remainder of the 15-month period.

For those of us who are unemployed we have a great appreciation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, since enacted in February it is estimated that it has helped to keep 7 million people covered by health insurance.

The package that is now before the Senate includes:

Change the end date of eligibility for the COBRA subsidy from December 31, 2009, to February 28, 2010.

Expand COBRA premium subsidy period to 15 months (from the current nine months).

Allow a period for the retroactive payment of premiums for individuals whose subsidy period expired on November 30 and who did not pay their premium for December coverage. The retroactive period is 60 days, beginning with the enactment of the provision or, if later, 30 days after provision of the notice. The same refund/credit rules under the original bill apply to any eligible individual whose subsidy expired in November and who has since paid the full COBRA premium.

Require a special notice to all assistance-eligible individuals who are on COBRA on or after November 1 or whose qualifying event is a termination of employment occurring on or after November 1 that describes the new 15-month premium subsidy.

Eligibility for the COBRA subsidy is still only on the involuntary termination of employment occurring on or before the new February 28, 2010, sunset date, without regard to when the COBRA coverage period begins. For employers providing subsidized coverage that defers the COBRA start date, the 15-month period may not begin until well into the future.

Highlights of the current status of the COBRA extension were pulled from several articles which provide more details and redirects to other COBRA related information, to learn more about the extension and how it impacts you read:

House Passes COBRA Subsidy Extension and Expansion, by By John Hickman and Ashley Gillihan in the The Employment Law Post, Human Resources News

US House Passes COBRA Subsidies Extension Awaits Senate Vote, by Jesse A. Hamilton, Insurancenewsnet.com

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Posted in Finances and insurance

Tags: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ARRA COBRA COBRA subsidy health insurance insurance insurance benefits Insurancenewsnet.com Jackie Simmonds Jacqueline Simmonds The Employment Law Post

Finances & Insurance: COBRA Subsidy Extension?

November 30th, 2009

By Jackie Simmonds, NEJS Blog Editor

Many of the unemployed count on the COBRA subsidy that was created as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and signed into law in February 2009 to be able to continue to provide health care coverage for their family. However this subsidy has begun to run out for many job seekers. This means if existing coverage is continued health insurance bills could go up as much as three times what job seekers have currently been paying.

There are bills that have been introduced to address an extension for the COBRA subsidy in the House of Representatives and the Senate, including House Bill HR 3930(2) and 3966(3) and Senate Bill S. 2730(4) but as of this blog posting neither have been enacted.

Senate Bill S. 2730(4): Extends the maximum COBRA continuation coverage period for individuals who were involuntarily terminated between April 1, 2009, and December 31, 2009 for 6 months. It also adds a new 75% COBRA subsidy for the newly unemployed that became unemployed between 1/01/2010 through 06/2010. The COBRA subsidy is extended from 9 months to 15 months and a reduction in hours from full-time to part-time becomes a COBRA-qualifying event. About.com Human Resources, What’s Up With the COBRA Subsidy?

House Bill HR 3930(2): COBRA is extended from 18 months to 24 months. Current subsidies receive a 6 month extension and a 65% COBRA subsidy is extended through 1/06/2010. About.com Human Resources, What’s Up With the COBRA Subsidy?

How do you know when COBRA will run out for you and your family? CNN recently posted an article on a widget that eHealthInsurance created to help job seekers understand exactly where they stand. The widget is available in the following locations: