As unemployment rates reach the highest levels in 16 years, a new analysis from The Commonwealth Fund finds that few laid-off workers--only 9 percent--took up coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) in 2006.
According to the report, unemployed workers who also lose their health insurance would need substantial financial assistance, covering 75 to 85 percent of their health insurance premiums, for their premium contributions to remain at the levels they paid while they were working. The report also finds that low-wage workers are at a particular disadvantage--with only 38 percent eligible to receive COBRA benefits--because they don't receive health insurance through their jobs, work for small firms that aren't required to offer COBRA, or are uninsured to begin with.
Sixty-six percent of all current workers, if laid off, would be eligible to extend their health insurance under COBRA. But for most people, COBRA payments are unaffordable, about four to six times higher than the amount of money they contributed to their health insurance when they were employed.
Read the report.
