COBRA Health Ins: What It Now Means To The Unemployed & Jobless

By Julie Smith on July 26, 2010, 10:01 am

A person who just lost his job can still get health insurance under the COBRA subsidy. The plan remains the same and the federal government pays a portion of the premiums. The unemployed individual bears the rest of the burden of the cost. Losing a job is never a good thing, but a person in relatively good health may elect not to carry health insurance until he gets to a new job. People who need prescription drugs or other forms of medical care may elect to pay the premiums despite their expense.

What The Failure To Extend The Benefit Means

Congress decided to extend unemployment benefits, but extension of COBRA benefits was not included as part of the package. While left-wing blogs and supporters cry that this will cause health care problems, not extending the benefits may have positive benefits on the economy. No one who manages to get health insurance is thrilled with the prospect of losing it, especially if he has ever seen his or her doctor bill. Yet, for people in relatively good health and who have other family members who are, not extending this program may have positive effects on the state of the economy.

 

How Will Not Extending COBRA Benefits Affect the Unemployed

Failure to extend health care benefits can have one of two possible effects. If a person does not have any pre-existing medical conditions and has health insurance to cover occasional problems that crop up in everyone’s life, it will free up more income which he can invest in other areas of the economy. A person who needs medication must either apply for benefits from a program elsewhere or find a way to pay for them out-of-pocket. An unemployed person with Diabetes receiving COBRA benefits may find that he can no longer continue insulin shots. State agencies can help cover the gaps in these instances.

Related posts:

1. Unemployment Extension Checks: The Latest On COBRA Insurance Subsidy
2. COBRA Extension Excluded In Unemployment Leaves 2M More Uninsured
3. COBRA Subsidy Extension Exclusion Will Cause Real Problems For Jobless
4. Unemployment Extension And COBRA Health Insurance: Latest Summary
5. Will Cobra Extension Give Relief To The Health Of Unemployed Americans?