The Senate takes up the health care bill today in a final push towards passage, but another story underscores the need for permanent reform. December 31st is the final day that laid-off workers can qualify for the federal subsidy that helps pay for COBRA health care coverage. COBRA is a federal law that allows most laid-off workers to maintain their group coverage, albeit at exorbitant prices that can easily top a thousand dollars for family coverage. The subsidy, passed as part of the stimulus package, picks up 65% of the tab for COBRA premiums for a maximum of nine months. Minnesota picks up the remaining portion for certain low-income individuals.
Congress seems likely to extend the subsidy as part of a jobs bill, but I will be amazed if that happens by the end of the year. All the more reason for Congress to ensure that, in the near term, affordable catastrophic coverage is available to individuals who lose employer coverage and, in the long term, that affordable comprehensive coverage is available on the individual and small business markets.
