Stimulus package & COBRA

[Venus Pax]

I recently found out that COBRA is partly covered under the stimulus package for employees that have lost their jobs due to lay offs. How would one go about applying for these benefits? Does this go through the COBRA offices, or is there some government agency that has to be contacted?

I've done some searching online; I found information on the bill, but nothing on its practical application.

[Oldgringo]

Inasmuch as no one had time to read the $787,000,000,000 bill prior to its passage, the part about the Cobra extension's application may have been overlooked.

[Lodge2004]

Very little information has come out so far, nobody even started reading this thing until Tuesday. Short answer is that instead of paying 100% of the cost, you will only have to pay 35%. The remaining 65% will be picked up by your previous employer. The employer can then take the expense as a reduction in their payroll taxes. The subsidy, I believe, is good for 9 months and has income level restrictions. As with any government program, there are TONS of details that will make your head explode. Eligibility is retroactive to September 2008 and it is effective February 2009. Unfortunately the government will not even have the new enrollment forms available for at least another month and it will probably be April before most employers can figure this all out.

I sat through a webinar this week and all those attending agreed we needed to find several more classes to even begin to grasp what we needed to start doing for our employees. The execution of all this falls on the employer you got your original COBRA eligibility from.

[Venus Pax]

The execution of all this falls on the employer you got your original COBRA eligibility from.

So we would have to go through the HR department to get the ball rolling on this?

[Lodge2004]

The execution of all this falls on the employer you got your original COBRA eligibility from.

So we would have to go through the HR department to get the ball rolling on this?

Yes. The HR department should be sending you an enrollment form to take advantage of this new COBRA option. They will have to send one to every person who would have been eligible since September 2008. They do not have that form because the government has not created it yet and probably will not do so for a month or more. Go easy on them, all they know right now is they must send something to somebody sometime soon.

[Oldgringo]

Lodge2004 wrote:

...Go easy on them, all they know right now is they must send something to somebody sometime soon....

Call for the boss and then call for the boss's boss. Where's the transparency? Someone has to be accountable...sayeth The Obama.

[Venus Pax]

The execution of all this falls on the employer you got your original COBRA eligibility from.

So we would have to go through the HR department to get the ball rolling on this?

Yes. The HR department should be sending you an enrollment form to take advantage of this new COBRA option. They will have to send one to every person who would have been eligible since September 2008. They do not have that form because the government has not created it yet and probably will not do so for a month or more. Go easy on them, all they know right now is they must send something to somebody sometime soon.

I'm not going to be rude or too pushy; I realize that it's new and will take a little time. I simply want to get the ball rolling. My pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition, so going to another insurance provider is out of the question as far as this is concerned. Once the baby arrives and is in good condition, we will probably go to an open-market major medical policy.

If I don't hear from them in about a month, I will call & inquire.

Thanks for all the info.
VP