AZ USA: Wednesday, January 04 - 2011
COBRA and Health Care Reform
With all the upheaval regarding Health Care Reform, COBRA is still an important option for millions of workers and their families. Contrary to what many predicted, not only did the new health care reform law refrain from eliminating COBRA, it did not change any of the rules. In fact, Congress is still working on COBRA provisions which would expand its realm and make it an even more integral part of the health care reform equation.
The following are some interesting COBRA statistics from the recent Commonwealth Fund Brief survey:
- An estimated 15 million working age adults lost their jobs and health benefits from 2008 through 2010.
- 25% of adults were able to go on their spouse’s insurance policy or find other coverage; however, 14% continued their coverage through COBRA.
- Nearly three quarters (72 %) of respondents who became uninsured skipped a recommended medical treatment or follow-up test; did not get a specialist or other physician care when needed or fill a prescription.
- By comparison, 42 percent who remained insured even after losing their job and health benefits experienced just one of the above problems.
- Nearly three quarters (72 percent) of workers who became uninsured when they lost their job reported at least one problem with medical bills or accrued medical debt compared with 49 percent of adults who remained insured after losing their job and health benefits.
- In 2010, 58 percent of workers, or about 67 million people, would likely have been eligible for COBRA if they had lost their job and health care.
- Unemployed workers with COBRA coverage averaged annual premium costs of $5,049 for an individual plan and $13,770 for a family plan based on employer plan costs in 2010.