Congress ponders coverage for unemployed

A Senate proposal may bridge party differences over subsidizing insurance for newly laid-off workers.

By Amy Snow Landa, AMNews staff. Nov. 12, 2001.

Washington -- Partisanship is complicating congressional efforts to help laid-off workers and their families retain their health insurance. The health coverage provisions are part of broader economic stimulus packages that House and Senate lawmakers are negotiating.

Nearly 600,000 workers nationwide have lost their jobs since Sept. 11, and many of them are facing the loss of their employer-sponsored health care benefits as well.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that as many as 18 million workers will lose their jobs over the next 18 months -- raising concerns among lawmakers that the number of uninsured Americans could rise dramatically if displaced workers are not offered some help.

But the two parties are divided over how generous that help should be and how it should be provided.

The AMA and other physician groups have stated their support for a possible "middle ground" approach put forward by Sen. James Jeffords (I, Vt.) and a bipartisan group of Senate moderates.

The Jeffords measure would provide a new refundable tax credit for laid-off workers who decide to keep their employer-sponsored coverage through a program established under the 1986 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.

COBRA lets many workers who lose their jobs keep their health care coverage for up to 18 months under group health plans sponsored by a former employer if they pay the full premium plus a 2% administrative fee.

But the COBRA option has proven unaffordable for many. Premiums average more than $7,000 a year for families and $2,700 for a single worker. In 2000, fewer than 20% of those eligible for COBRA took advantage of the opportunity, the Labor Dept. said. [...]