WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced legislation today that would extend health insurance coverage for current COBRA enrollees until the major reforms in the new health law take effect. The COBRA Health Benefits Extension Act of 2010, introduced by Brown in the Senate and Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) in the House of Representatives, would provide a bridge for unemployed workers and early retirees by allowing them to stay on their former employer’s health plan instead of entering the individual market or enrolling in a high risk pool. 

“Passage of the historic health reform bill was the first of many steps we'll take so that middle-class families who work hard and play by the rules can still get ahead. But until those provisions take effect, we must ensure that Americans have access to health insurance,” Brown said. “Unemployed workers and early retirees should have the option of purchasing health coverage through COBRA.”

While the economy has begun to add jobs, it will take time before employment rates gets are back to normal.  In the meantime, this bill would help the millions of Americans still looking for a job by allowing them to keep their COBRA benefits. The legislation allows former workers currently enrolled in COBRA to keep their insurance beyond standard eligibility periods until another job that offers coverage is secured or they become eligible to participate in an insurance exchange in 2014.

COBRA coverage is extremely valuable to those facing a serious health problem or chronic condition.  Pre-existing condition exclusions for adults are not prohibited in the individual market until January 2014, so, in the meantime, insurance companies are allowed to continue to discriminate against the sick or aged.

Extending COBRA eligibility beyond 18 months would not affect the COBRA subsidy included in the stimulus. That subsidy, worth 65 percent of the premium, expires after 15 months for citizens who have been laid off within the last 20 months. This bill would maintain that stipulation.

By introducing the Coverage Continuity Act of 2009, Brown successfully fought to ensure that the Recovery Act made health insurance more affordable for unemployed workers through a 65 percent subsidy. He was the lead sponsor of legislation that extended that temporary COBRA subsidy that helps unemployed workers afford health coverage.


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