Legislation approved Wednesday by the U.S. House of Representatives would temporarily extend federal COBRA subsidies to help cover the cost of health coverage. The bill also extends Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits that would otherwise be phased out by the end of this year.
Also included is a provision, which would prevent a scheduled fee reduction for certain Medicare providers.
The provisions are outlined in H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2010, which passed by an overwhelming vote of 395 to 34.
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"This bill ensures that workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own will not lose the unemployment and health benefits they rely upon to provide for their families," said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., in a press statement. "The immediate benefits and assistance provided in this bill help provide some measure of economic security for millions of our fellow Americans struggling during this holiday season, helping ease their pain as they search for their next job opportunity."
According to the House Committee on Ways and Means, the bill extends the duration of and eligibility for the 65 percent COBRA premium subsidy included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was enacted by Congress in February.
Eligible individuals for the subsidy pay only 35 percent of their COBRA premiums and the remaining 65 percent is reimbursed to the coverage provider through a tax credit. (Eligibility qualifications for the COBRA premium reduction include involuntary termination of employment between Sept. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009.)
The original terms of the premium reduction apply to periods of health coverage beginning on or after Feb. 17, and last for up to nine months.
Under H.R. 3326, that duration has been extended to 15 months. The deadline for eligibility is also now Feb. 28, 2010, instead of Dec. 31, 2009.
The bill also extends three UI provisions through the first two months of 2010, established or continued by the Recovery Act that otherwise would be phased out by Dec. 31. These include:
- Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program, which provides up to 53 weeks of federally-funded extended benefits.
- 100 percent federal funding for the Extended Benefits (EB) program, which provides up to an additional 13 to 20 weeks of benefits in certain States; and
- Federal Additional Compensation (FAC), which increases all UI benefits by $25 a week.
According to the committee, the extension prevents more than one million workers from exhausting their unemployment benefits by the end of January, with the first wave running out of benefits the day after Christmas.
A provision of the legislation also enacts a 60-day freeze at current payment levels to prevent a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians and selected other providers, which was scheduled for January 2010. The measure, according to the committee, will preserve access to care for Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries until lawmakers can settle on Medicare physician payment reform.
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