Rep. Nick Miccarelli (R-Delaware) has introduced legislation to subsidize the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) payments of Pennsylvanians who are collecting unemployment benefits. 

 

Congress created the COBRA program to enable employees who lose their jobs to continue participating in their former employer’s group health insurance plan. Under COBRA, an employee who voluntarily resigns from a job or is terminated for any reason other than “gross misconduct,” is guaranteed the right to continue his or her former employer’s group plan for individual or family health insurance for up to 18 months at the employee’s own expense.

 

“We are seeing more and more people lose their jobs every day,” Miccarelli said. “In these difficult economic times, many of those people cannot afford the daily necessities, let alone a COBRA payment.”

 

Miccarelli’s legislation would create a grant program in the Department of Insurance to provide payments to individuals whose COBRA payments exceed 10 percent of their pro-rated weekly income.

 

“Many of these stimulus packages have focused on bailing out industries and companies. They have lost sight of who has been affected most, the workers,” said Miccarelli. “CEOs and Chairman are getting golden parachutes while the people doing the day to day work are getting laid off and left out. These people are not asking for a bailout, just the ability to provide for their families.  For too long, we have been working from the top down. That must change.

 

“The loss of a job can have a devastating impact on a family,” Miccarelli noted. “The added strain of losing health care coverage is often more than many families can bear. My legislation will enable people to keep their health care coverage while seeking new employment.”