Part of Stimulus Package to Drop Cost of COBRA
Obama’s proposed stimulus package will aim to affect the state of the nation in several ways. For one, it will increase available funds to states programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, which provide coverage for those who cannot afford it on their own. Secondly, it will stimulate jobs in the health care field as more doctors and nurses are needed to care for the higher number of people with coverage. Also, it will drop the price of COBRA coverage by about two-thirds for the coming year. This could greatly affect a large sector of people who are finding themselves laid off and without employment or COBRA health insurance. COBRA is available to people through their former employers for 18 months after termination, but normally is it prohibitively expensive. If the cost of COBRA were dropped that dramatically, a much greater percentage of people would be able to afford that coverage. How big of an impact would this have on these troubled times?