Costs to Increase Under COBRA

7 million unemployed Americans, laid off or downsized between Sept. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009, get a federal subsidy to help them buy health insurance under legislation known as the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. The COBRA subsidy pays 65 percent of their job-based health insurance premiums for nine months.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation job-based coverage averages $398 per month for families and $144 for individuals, with the subsidy. Without it, premiums average $1,137 for a family and $410 for an individual.

That subsidy expires Monday (11.30.09) for thousands who began receiving it in March, when it first became available as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Before the subsidy was offered, only about 9 percent of people who were eligible for coverage under COBRA took advantage of it because it was so expensive. An analysis found that COBRA enrollment had doubled since the subsidy became available.

But industries with large job losses showed greater increases. Enrollment among industrial manufacturing workers went from 7 percent to 59 percent, while enrollment tripled among construction, leisure and retail workers.

It remains unclear when or whether Congress will address the subsidy expiration with specific legislation or as part of a major jobs bill.