Obama To Congress: Extend COBRA Subsidies

President Obama pressed Congress to extend COBRA subsidies on Tuesday, as the Senate considers a House measure that drops the health insurance assistance. Shortly before Obama made his comments during a town hall question and answer session, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters that the COBRA subsidy would not be in the Senate's version, either.

COBRA is a program that allows laid-off workers to continue to purchase their employer-provided health coverage. Without the 65 percent subsidy created by the stimulus, COBRA is often unaffordable, a reality Obama pointed to in pressing for the extension.

"We think it's important to sustain it for at least another six months, because there's still a lot of folks who are out of work. This is being debated in Congress right now. And so, Dennis," Obama told the questioner, "the answer is to make sure that Congress follows through on its commitment... and maintains COBRA until people are working at a higher rate."

Obama added that COBRA subsidies are not a long-term solution, but are required because the major provisions of health care reform have not kicked in.

If Congress fails to extend COBRA subsidies, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has vowed to return to the issue. Any worker laid off after June 1, unless the law is changed, is not eligible for COBRA subsidies, though workers laid off earlier can continue getting the subsidy.

Comments

[FatFeline]

02:02 AM on 06/09/2010

"Extend COBRA Subsidies"

Let's keep giving them fish in hopes that they never learn to fish thus continuing to vote for us to keep giving them fish.

[Hugh Topian]

12:21 AM on 06/09/2010

America to Obama: Find us real private sector jobs. Stop bashing the private sector.

[Marie Russell-Barker]

10:07 PM on 06/08/2010

Cobra is needed for families, especially those with small children. This is the difference between being able to see a doctor with out going into the E. R. I think Congress should extend it.

[max hp]

09:38 PM on 06/08/2010

A Public Option is far more preferable because it gives the consumers the upper hand. Control over their own destiny, at least in health care.

Too bad it was NEGOTIATED AWAY AND OPPORTUNITY SQUANDERED.

[xsm941f]

08:29 PM on 06/08/2010

Who could be against this?? Oh, I know. The Tea Baggers and the "Libertarians", until of course, they're laid off. Hypocritical morons.

[Chris Galle]

08:32 PM on 06/08/2010

"Who could be against this?"

How about people that have to pay for it?

Hypocritical, why don't you decide to pull your own weight and stop sucking off the Govt Tit?

Explain in detail why you are so special, but can't get a job for two years and everyone should pay you to stay home while the producers have to give you a wage?

[2bad]

10:54 PM on 06/08/2010

Another sheep copy/pasting the talking points spewed by their shepherds.

Why don't you explain in detail why you want families to suffer because of events they can't control? I'll bet you call yourself a christian too.

[lynneeeepooh]

05:52 PM on 06/13/2010

I had a major heart attack in 12/08. While I was on life support, my employer terminated my job...I was a registered nurse. I'm still recovering after having my leg amputated above the knee. I've worked since I was 16...that's 43 years or pulling my own weight!!! I'm now on Social Security. No pension, no health insurance other than COBRA (I'm not eligible for Medicare until 12/10...no golden parachute for me. If it weren't for the subsidy, I'd probably be homeless by now. I didn't ask for this. I'd still be working if I was able. I have no bills other than a mortgage, utilities, tons of co-payments for doctor visits, hospitalizations, medicine, over $1600 a month for my COBRA and a little incidental called food. Why don't you try walking in MY shoes!

[cate58]

08:08 PM on 06/08/2010

I was terminated from a company that had too few employees for me to qualify for the subsidy. And my unemployment check wouldn't have covered regular COBRA and allowed me to pay rent. So, at age 58, I don't have health insurance. I also don't think I'll be working anytime soon, as I've had little luck with interviewing. I get a lot of calls, but as soon as I show up it's clear that I'm much older than my resume or voice would expect. "And youth don't hire old." (quote from another unemployed elder.)

I seriously think that when my 79 weeks (in my state it's a max of 79 and that only if unemployment stays high) I'll be working 3 part-time jobs with no benefits and no days off just to keep a roof over my head. I sincerely doubt I will land a full-time job between now and when I can take Social Security at age 62. And, because I'll need that $$, retiring early will cost me about $400 dollars a month for as long as I live. Oh well, at least I won't be alive to see the remaining steps to the total destruction of the middle class - which will take about 10 years. (Longer than I'll live since I won't have any medical coverage I can afford until Medicare kicks in and I'm sure I'll fall ill way before then with something treatable with insurance and not without.)

[Chris Galle]

08:13 PM on 06/08/2010

But you are a producer. Please don't post here.

[patient i am]

09:49 PM on 06/08/2010

poor Chris---just an ignoramous.
3,000,000 jobs permanently lost in this country and people like you say "quit being lazy and get a job" i so-o-o-o wish you would lose your job and let us know who and where you are so we could sit outside your house everyday and count the days it will take for you to get another job.

[SUPPERMAN]

07:22 PM on 06/08/2010

Stop spending billions on these wars that are not doing anything but making a few corporations a ton of money and take care of the hurting people in this country! Your all nuts Rs and Dems

[SueMVetforObama2]

07:08 PM on 06/08/2010

Thank you, Mr. President.

[JTHC75]

06:46 PM on 06/08/2010

Thanks for being on top of this, Mr. Prez. It might have been helpful if you had, you know, exhibited this kind of leadership last month before the Senate fled town.

[Bob Todd]

06:32 PM on 06/08/2010

What about us people who have been unemployed for over 2 years. Both unemployment and COBRA have run out. We get no benefit from these extensions.
No job, no unemployment funds, and no insurance!

[SueMVetforObama2]

07:09 PM on 06/08/2010

Where are you and what do you do?

[Bob Todd]

07:20 PM on 06/08/2010

I'm in Minneapolis. Publicity/Marketing. Laid off with a company downsizing in 2008. This year they canceled our pension plan as well (a loophole because they are affiliated with a church).

[nestormcdade]

07:11 PM on 06/08/2010

I feel for you. I hope you get something soon. I am writing and calling all of my representatives to make sure they don't forget about you or any of the rest of us.

[JanPoore]

07:24 PM on 06/08/2010

Thank you from me too. Tier 4 ran out early April and still no jobs.

[HappyBalance]

08:29 PM on 06/08/2010

Yup thank you for your efforts.

[socialmistfit]

06:26 PM on 06/08/2010

President Barry: Where is congress going to get the money?

How about this Mr. Prez... you stop thinking of new deficit-increasing give-aways and figure out how to get Americans back to work.

[nestormcdade]

07:13 PM on 06/08/2010

In order to get people back to work we are going to have to temporarily increase the deficit. Industry needs to come back to America and that is going to take time if it happens at all. Either we pay now or we pay later with increased prison space and police to process all the hungry desperate people in a world without jobs or a safety net.

[Chris Galle]

07:25 PM on 06/08/2010

How many degrees in Economics do you have?

I think most people perform a little better with no net below them...........

Please answer the following:

#1) In what universe is an economy with 39.68 million Americans on food stamps considered to be a healthy, recovering economy? In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts that enrollment in the food stamp program will exceed 43 million Americans in 2011. Is a rapidly increasing number of Americans on food stamps a good sign or a bad sign for the economy?

#2) According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings were reported on 367,056 properties in the month....... This was an increase of almost 19 percent from February, and it was the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report back in January 2005. So can you please explain again how the U.S. real estate market is getting better?

#3) The Mortgage Bankers Association just announced that more than 10 percent of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage had missed at least one payment in the January-March period. That was a record high and up from 9.1 percent a year ago. Do you think that is an indication that the U.S. housing market is recovering?

[Chris Galle]

07:26 PM on 06/08/2010

#4) How can the U.S. real estate market be considered healthy when, for the first time in modern history, banks own a greater share of residential housing...... than all individual Americans put together?

#5) With the U.S. Congress planning to quadruple oil taxes, what do you think that is going to do to the price of gasoline in the United States and how do you think that will affect the U.S. economy?

#6) Do you think that it is a good sign that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of the state of California, says that “terrible cuts” are urgently needed in order to avoid a complete financial disaster in his state?

#7) But it just isn’t California that is in trouble. Dozens of U.S. states are in such bad financial shape that they are getting ready for their biggest budget cuts in decades. What do you think all of those budget cuts will do to the economy?

#8) In March, the U.S. trade deficit widened to its highest level since December 2008. Month after month after month we buy much more from the rest of the world than they buy from us. Wealth is draining out of the United States at an unprecedented rate. So is the fact that the gigantic U.S. trade deficit is actually getting bigger a good sign or a bad sign for the U.S. economy?

[JanPoore]

07:28 PM on 06/08/2010

President Barry: Where is congress going to get the money?

Well, we could stop sending money to Iraq and Afghanistan. We could increase taxes on the rich - don't you think those Wall Street Bank guys and traders who created the mess and are still making millions or billions should kick in some of their money?

They could pass a temporary 12 month national VAT on certain purchases like luxury watches, luxury cars and designer clothes.

[Chris Galle]

07:42 PM on 06/08/2010

Really, a temporary VAT. What do you think Congress would do at the end of the temp period. Please, stop taxing everyone to pay for those that don't want to produce in Society.

Simple Question.

What would you do if there was no Social Safety Net? What would you do if there was no Welfare? Please, explain what you would do?

[stopthemadness69]

04:51 PM on 06/08/2010

Any worker laid off after June 1, unless the law is changed, is not eligible for COBRA subsidies, though workers laid off earlier can continue getting the subsidy.

Why is it that the real information is always at the bottom of the story in the last few lines. This is the first time I have heard that anyone layed off before june 1 2010 will still get the subsidy. I wish we still had journalists in this country.

[Chris Galle]

07:17 PM on 06/08/2010

Good Call and this is the part that bothers me the most. Those at 12 months get it, but newly released don't. Poor writing of the Clause.

[JanPoore]

07:29 PM on 06/08/2010

"I wish we still had journalists in this country."

Perhaps if people still bought newspapers, we would.

[stopthemadness69]

11:24 AM on 06/09/2010

What does that have to do with anything? We used to have journalists on tv and the papers are still online.

[shaggyct]

04:46 PM on 06/08/2010

COBRA is a lifeline for millions of Americans who have worked hard all their lives, paid their taxes, played by the rules and then through no fault of their own find themselves either laid off or being forced to take a temporary job without benefits while supporting a family. But it is anything but a giveaway; I believe that most COBRA participants end up paying about 85% of the full cost of health insurance.

It sickens me when smug people trying to make an ideological point act like this is some kind of entitlement program. I've never heard of anybody on COBRA who wants to be on COBRA; they would much rather be in a full-time job that offers health insurance. It just sickens me that so many people put petty ideology ahead of compassion. If you're not a billionaire in this economy, hard times can hit anybody at any time without warning, no matter how well off you think you are. We're all in this boat together, and if those of us who are fortunate enough to have a good income and benefits lose our ability to show compassion towards those less fortunate, then we are all going down together in a Darwinian wreck.

[Chris Galle]

08:17 PM on 06/08/2010

Govt pays 65% of the subsidy. You are clueless when you state individuals pay 85%. Remember too that those are unemployment checks, so who is really paying?

[shaggyct]

08:59 PM on 06/08/2010

You'll note that I qualified the 85% remark with "I believe" because I wasn't sure, since I've never been unemployed or required government assistance in my life so have no personal knowledge. Still, even if you're right, it doesn't change my feelings about COBRA. I'm sorry you feel so insecure and inferior that you had to call me names though; that diminishes whatever point you were trying to make and says much more about you than it does about me. I hope hard times never befall you, my friend. It's easy to be smug and pontificate about ideological abstractions until the day comes when the abstraction bites you in the rear end.

[hbhawaii]

04:42 PM on 06/08/2010

Tax the rich and end both wars -- we can easily pay for this.

[thepheonix]

05:30 PM on 06/08/2010

when? Before or after the rich left the US

[SueMVetforObama2]

07:11 PM on 06/08/2010

Big business and some of the smaller businesses sold the American people out many years ago.

[JanPoore]

01:17 PM on 06/09/2010

Where are they going to go? Government free, tax free Somalia?

[hillaryj]

05:35 PM on 06/08/2010

I totally agree...................

[kat1944]

04:36 PM on 06/08/2010

How about just not taxing unemployment benefits.
Maybe if more people got to keep what they have, they could afford their own necessities.

[hillaryj]

05:36 PM on 06/08/2010

This is true.................I wish every member of Congress had to live on what my son does...............and make a mortage payment, too!

[JanPoore]

07:30 PM on 06/08/2010

I agree - they shouldn't tax unemployment benefits, but It doesn't help those of us who have used up Tier 4 and are still out.