What to do about COBRA « Main Street

What to do about COBRA

Let’s say you’ve been getting COBRA subsidies, or you have just been laid off and want to find out if you are eligible. And you’ve heard about extensions and the possibility of people losing their coverage and you just want to know what’s going on.

The New York Times has some very useful information for you.

Founding Executive Director of Families USA Ron Pollack took questions here, answering questions not just about subsidies but about eligibility for COBRA at all—for instance, some states have their own continuation coverage programs—and about how to move from COBRA to new insurance.

In another article, they provided some general advice under the headings:

Avoid a lapse
Buy time
Stay on top of it
Look for reductions
Newly laid off?

What we need is an economy where people don’t live in fear that losing a job will mean losing their health care and maybe their lives. But while we’re dealing with this economy, being informed is an important defense.