COBRA Subsidy Clarification

Individuals who become eligible for COBRA or state continuation coverage after December 31, 2009, will not qualify for the subsidy.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provision that provided eligible COBRA and state continuation participants with nine months of subsidized premiums will end December 31, 2009. Therefore, an individual who becomes eligible for COBRA or state continuation coverage after December 31, 2009, will not be eligible for the 65 percent subsidy.

This means that if an employee is terminated on December 31, 2009, that employee may be eligible for COBRA or state continuation but will not be eligible for the subsidy.

For more information on the COBRA subsidy, go to the U.S. Department of Labor website at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/cobra.html