COBRA Affordability Will Maintain Employer Coverage, Provide Critical Bridge
Washington, D.C. (December 10, 2020): Today the Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) issued the following statement on President-elect Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” and Emergency Legislative Package:
“At a time like this, the last thing workers need is to lose coverage, switch plans, change doctors and restart the clock on annual deductibles. Helping people maintain their overwhelmingly popular existing benefits provides a temporary, but critical bridge to those who lost their jobs through no fault of their own” said CAHC President Joel White. “We look forward to continuing our work with the new Administration and Congress to get this important priority passed into law.”
CAHC has been joined thirty-five organizations including unions, employers, insurers, and others in a letter to Congressional leaders to support laid off workers who want to keep their employer health coverage through COBRA, a program few can afford after losing a job.
Relevant text of President-elect Biden’s plan:
“Preserving and expanding health coverage. Roughly 2 to 3 million people lost employer-sponsored health insurance between March and September, and even families who have maintained coverage may struggle to pay premiums and afford care. Further, going into this crisis, 30 million people were without coverage, limiting their access to the healthcare system in the middle of a pandemic. To ensure access to health coverage, President-elect Biden is calling on Congress to subsidize continuation health coverage (COBRA) through the end of September. He is also asking Congress to expand and increase the value of the premium tax credit to lower or eliminate health insurance premiums and ensure enrollees- including those who never had coverage through their jobs- will not pay more than 8.5% of their income for coverage. Together, these policies would reduce premiums for more than 10 million people and reduce the ranks of the uninsured by millions more.”