-- Give credit to people who paid the full premium in December. Individuals should contact their plan administrator or employer sponsoring the plan to discuss a credit against future payments, said Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary of labor. The legislation assures that people who were receiving assistance but whose eligibility has expired will be reimbursed, and they will have the option for re-enrollment, said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, one of the legislators who pushed for the subsidy extension. This particular provision is a welcome relief for Ricky Crawford of Huntsville, Ala. He and his wife had to make a full premium payment of $1,013 in December. With the subsidy they were paying $350. "My wife has some health issues, which, without insurance, we would certainly struggle financially," Crawford told me.
-- Require employers to send out notices to laid-off workers outlining the most recent changes in the COBRA subsidy. For example, individuals who had lost the subsidy will now have additional time to pay the reduced premium to keep their coverage.
After the subsidy was first passed, COBRA enrollment doubled, according to an analysis by Hewitt Associates. With the subsidy, the cost of maintaining the average policy is $398 per month for a family and $144 for an individual, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Without the subsidy, that cost jumps to $1,137 per month for family coverage and $410 per month for individual coverage. Unfortunately, if your company closed or went bankrupt and there no longer is a group health plan, the COBRA subsidy is not available.
For more details on the COBRA subsidy, contact your plan or go to the Department of Labor's Web site at www.dol.gov/COBRA. You can also call the Employee Benefits Security Administration toll-free at (866) 444-3272.
As Donny Hathaway soulfully sang, thanks to the COBRA subsidy, for many people, this Christmas will be a very special Christmas.