The unemployed in the United States are receiving several attacks on a continuous basis: first the federal benefits of $ 300 dollars for unemployment expired, and now, the subsidy that the government had granted on health insurance for the unemployed and which was approved is ending. approved in the face of the economic crisis caused by Covid-19.
This subsidy has been granted through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Law, or also called COBRA, which will end at the end of this month. In this sense, experts are considering that affected people should get help as soon as possible, to hire an affordable health insurance plan, since once October begins, they will be left without coverage.
COBRA coverage started April 1 and in the American Rescue Plan it was specified that the benefits would expire at the end of September.
What is COBRA health coverage all about?
Basically it allows employees who have just been laid off, to keep the medical insurance policy of the company where they work, but taking charge of paying their respective fees. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the traditional annual premium was $ 7,470 for individuals and $ 21,342 for family plans. The government was subsidizing one part of these costs and the other was up to the individual to cover.
According to estimates, more than 16 million people lost their health insurance once they had to leave their jobs.
Now that this subsidy is ending, employees would have to pay in full for their policy, which would make it difficult for people who are still without a job to cover the costs on their own.
What options do you have
A special 60-day enrollment period is currently open for affordable health coverage. Those who have received unemployment benefits during 2021 for at least one week may qualify for get a monthly premium of $ 0 dollars.
If you can pay for COBRA coverage alone, then you can stay in the program, although you can only do so for a maximum of 18 months.
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