Swine Flu: Stay Home

[FayeforCure]

How about the current stimulus tax payer subsidies for private insurance through unaffordable COBRA?
Unnecessary you say?

May 11, 2009


You might qualify to extend your health benefits if you're laid off

By Sandra Block
Gannett News Service

Even if you've done everything you're supposed to do to prepare for a layoff - built up an emergency fund, paid off your credit cards, set up an account on LinkedIn - losing your employer-provided health insurance could demolish your finances. Your health could suffer, too.

While many insurers offer individual policies, they're primarily targeted at the young and healthy. Individuals who are older or have medical problems are often turned down or charged prohibitively high rates.
The economic stimulus package enacted this year seeks to address this problem by lowering the cost of continuing your former employer's health insurance. Unfortunately, many laid-off workers are discovering that they're ineligible for this subsidy. Others may need to take extra steps to demonstrate they're qualified.

Under the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, laid-off workers can continue their former employer's health coverage for up to 18 months. In the past, participants had to pay 102 percent of the premiums, making COBRA unaffordable for most unemployed workers.

The stimulus package subsidizes 65 percent of COBRA premiums for up to nine months for individuals who were laid off between Sept. 1, 2008, and the end of this year. With the subsidy, the average family will pay $377 a month or $140 for an individual, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

That's still more than most employees pay for insurance while they're working. But if you're eligible for the subsidy, you should try to take advantage of it, says Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a health care advocacy group.

Signing up for COBRA will allow you to continue the same coverage you had when you were working, even if you or anyone in your family has medical problems. In addition, it will preserve your ability to get insurance in the future, even if you have a pre-existing medical condition.

Reasons you may be ineligible for the COBRA subsidy:

• Your former employer has gone out of business or terminated its group coverage. These companies are no longer covered by COBRA, says Michael Langan, principal at Towers Perrin, a human resources consultant.

• You lost your job because of gross misconduct or left voluntarily.

However, recently issued guidelines from the IRS "take a very liberal position" on what constitutes involuntary termination, Langan says. For example, if you're unemployed because your employer closed your branch, that counts as an involuntary termination, Langan says, even if your company offered you a job in another part of the country.

Similarly, employees who accepted a buyout because their employer said the offer would be followed by layoffs qualify for the subsidy, he says.

The Labor Department has an appeals process for unemployed workers who were denied the subsidy.

Go to www.dol.gov/cobra.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090511/BUSINESS/905110312&template=printart

[hooplady]

You pay MediCare taxes on income up to something like $102K or $110K or some such. 

Not so, we already pay Medicare tax on all earnings.  It's only Social Security (FICA) that is capped at $106,800.

[hooplady]

How about the current stimulus tax payer subsidies for private insurance through unaffordable COBRA?
Unnecessary you say?

Judging from the complete yawn of response from potential enrollees at my employer, yes, I'd say it was unnecessary.  Add to that a huge burden on the company to administer a complicated program that was slammed in at the last minute and will expire before anyone figures out how it works.  I'm sure it looked great on paper...

[BridgeTroll]

This bill is an emotional responose to an emotional problem.  Paid sick days mandated by the government sounds great at first look.... after you lift the veil it is the ugly stepsister.

Stop.  Think.  Proceed with extreme caution...

[CrysG]

The I guess the rest of the  modern world likes an ugly sister.

[civil42806]

There's also the option of getting your own individual health care plan, independent of any health care coverage the company you work for offers.  It's not expensive, if you shop around. 

There's also COBRA.

HMMM. have you tried to get one with a pre-existing condition?

Have to agree with Faye on this one, if your in very good health and have no pre existing conditions its not to bad. If you young you can get a catastophic policy which will be pretty cheap. But as you get older need more coverage.  BCBS offered me one for just myself at 180 a month good deal, with my wife not so much, paying 840 a month right now.

[BridgeTroll]

Any of our small business owners care to chime in?  I wonder how well Waffa and Mikes might survive if they had to comply with this.  Stephen owned Boomtown... I wonder how many paid days off he gave his staff?  How about the Pearl or Shanty?  Force this legislation on them and see what happens...

[CrysG]

BT,

You pointed out the people who need paid time off the most....the one's who touch our FOOD.

And to add, preexisting conditions, could be anything from UTI to a baby with jaundice.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20090226_Attacks_mount_on__preexisting_conditions_.html

[BridgeTroll]

So you would rather the business close or layoff people?  It is managements job to send people home who are too ill to be there...

[Doctor_K]

You pay MediCare taxes on income up to something like $102K or $110K or some such. 

Not so, we already pay Medicare tax on all earnings.  It's only Social Security (FICA) that is capped at $106,800.

I stand corrected - thanks for clarifying!

[CrysG]

So you would rather the business close or layoff people?  It is managements job to send people home who are too ill to be there...

HAHAHAHAH......I needed that laugh.....

Yeah they MIGHT send them home, but they wont pay them. For some people a days wage means the difference between eating or getting gas to get to and from work. My God you make it seem like passing a bill to allow sick people to be sick is going to some how bring down every single small business. I will never feel the same way....nor will any of the small business owners in England or France......Come on....

[BridgeTroll]

You must not know too many then... the ones I know and and have asked about it, simply cannot afford to pay people to not work.  It really IS that simple.  I suppose they might have no objection if the government pays for them to be sick...  How about that??  You/we/us pay for this sick time... so desparately needed.  We could call it the Department of PTO and tack a $.05 sales tax on the people of the U.S.  Then we all share the burden and responsibility of paid sick days...

[Shwaz]

What constitutes being "sick"? How many kids are going to call out with the Irish Flu or because there's waves to surf or because they're just lazy. Will they have to produce a doctor's note /excuse? Do they even have health care to do that? I'm using young people because that's the only time I can remember not having PTO.

Doesn't seem fair to make small business's responsible for this kind of behavior which will be common if allowed.

[CrysG]

BT,

I AM a small business owner. I give my people a good wage, good insurance and PTO. Is it killing me? NOPE. Is my business in the pooper? NOPE.

Shwaz,

The people who will call out, are the same people who call out now. Are you implying that the people who get PTO are all hard workers and the people who don't have PTO are all lazy slacker? Please.

[urbanlibertarian]