Modern Healthcare: "The Senate is expected to vote on a fiscal 2010 Defense appropriations bill by this weekend that would extend a health insurance subsidy for laid-off workers through February 2010. The House has approved the subsidy extension for the COBRA program, which was tucked into the $636.3 billion Defense appropriations bill." The subsidy was was only available for nine months, until Dec. 31. "That meant that the unemployed who started receiving the subsidy in March saw it lapse on Dec. 1. ... The same bill includes a short-term delay to the impending cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement." A full Senate vote on the measure is likely Saturday (Vesely, 12/17).