Subsidizing COBRA Is Not Enough–We Need Single Payer

[dcsmart]

by Andrew Coates MD

COBRA is a law that allows you to keep your employer-sponsored health insurance for 18 months if you lose or change jobs. To do so, you have to pay 102% of the cost (the full premium plus a 2% surcharge).

The stimulus package just passed provides for laid off workers, who had health insurance on the job, to receive a subsidy of 65% of the health insurance premium for up to nine months.

According to a report by FamiliesUSA, the national average unemployment benefit is $1,278 monthly. Under COBRA, national family coverage averages $1,069 per month. So laid off workers, in order to keep health insurance for their families, will have to pay more than $375 a month but after nine months will have to come up with the full $1,069.

To keep family coverage under COBRA, with the subsidy, it will cost people who are laid off, on average, almost one-third of every unemployment check. This money will go to a health insurance company, instead of food, housing and school expenses for the family.
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FULL ARTICLE
http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/subsidizing-cobra-is-not-enough-we-need-single-payer/

[MercutioATC]

1. No, we just need a national plan that follows the PERSON, not the job.

Expand the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan to cover everybody.

[sandnsea]

2. So fuck helping people right now

In order to have the perfect plan ten years from now.

Subsidiing COBRA now is not the health care plan. Lots of people who are laid off have savings or assets they can sell to help pay their premium.

And if the family is at 200% of poverty or less, they can get Medicaid, whether they have children or not.

And an MD wrote this??

sheesh.