Published: June 1, 2010

Federal "COBRA" Health Benefit Extension Law Expires

by KYW's Kim Glovas

Starting today, newly unemployed Americans are no longer eligible for government-subsidized health insurance through the "COBRA" program. The subsidy paid up to 65 percent of insurance premiums for the newly uninsured.

John Dodds, of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, says the end of COBRA subsidies is bad news for anyone who loses his or her job after today:

"No new people can go on. And people who have run out of their 15 months will not be able to continue. So anybody who is laid off after today, as of now, will not be eligible for the COBRA subsidy. And, of course, paying your health insurance without the subsidy is extraordinarily expensive and most people can't really afford it."

He says that in addition to the health insurance subsidies, unemployment benefits have not been extended. Dodds says it's hard to believe that with the highest unemployment rate since the Depression, Congress is willing to pull these safety nets from under those who have lost their jobs.

Congress is currently in recess.