As COBRA subsidies run out, thousands of laid off workers feel the pinch of health costs

The Christian Science Monitor: A continuation of the subsidy for health insurance for newly laid-off workers was not included in the six-month extension of unemployment insurance that recently became law. "That means that as of June 1, thousands of workers are either paying out most of their unemployment checks for health coverage under 'COBRA,' or just not getting covered." The COBRA subsidy's advocates "say Congress' decision not to help out those who have lost their employer-subsidized health care is forcing families to put off getting health care if they need it, and is putting even greater pressure on emergency room facilities. Opponents say the benefits extension is expensive if not paid for, and it doesn't fix the underlying problem - getting people a stable source of health-care insurance." Meanwhile, for many who qualify, COBRA is too expensive without the subsidy (Scherer, 7/29).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.