Coloradans who have lost their jobs can qualify for federal aid to help cover the cost of health insurance — if they know how to get it.
Money in the federal stimulus package is subsidizing payments for COBRA, the stopgap health insurance that lets unemployed workers extend their employer-sponsored coverage for 18 months.
And for workers laid off from small companies, those with 20 employees or fewer, there is a state law guaranteeing federal subsidies.
“The hope is that this will keep you off the ranks of the uninsured while you are looking for new work,” said Denise de Percin, executive director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.
De Percin said many Coloradans who have lost their jobs, as well as many employers, are not aware of the new subsidies. Employers with more than 20 workers are required to inform laid-off workers about COBRA, an acronym for the 1986 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.
The subsidies allow the unemployed to pay 35 percent of their premiums to continue health coverage for nine months. The federal government will reimburse employers for the other 65 percent.
People are eligible if they lose their jobs between September 2008 and December 2009 and if their annual income does not exceed $145,000 for individuals or $290,000 for families.
“The big thing that people need to know is that if they turned down COBRA, they should check again,” de Percin said, meaning the subsidies are retroactive.
The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative is working with Gov. Bill Ritter’s office to tweak the state law for smaller businesses, making it retroactive as well.
A January report, issued by the consumer health organization Families USA, found that the average national cost of family COBRA coverage consumed almost 84 percent of average unemployment benefits.
Jennifer Brown: 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com
