Health insurance poses problem for unemployed - Minot Daily News
Laid-off workers who try to maintain health insurance through a former employer's health plan likely will find that premiums eat up most of their unemployment checks, according to new research released Friday by Families USA, a national organization for health-care consumers.
The organization's report shows that, on a national basis, average COBRA premiums for family coverage consume about 84 percent of average unemployment insurance benefits. In North Dakota, the figure is 77 percent for a family and 29 percent for the worker alone.
COBRA stands for Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1985. It provides that employees who lose their jobs can buy into their employers' health plans for 18 months or sometimes longer. They must pay the full premium, plus a 2 percent administration fee.
"Affording COBRA when somebody is unemployed is a very difficult thing," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA., Washington, D.C. "COBRA health coverage is great in theory and lousy in reality for the vast majority of workers who are laid off."
CBS NewsA roundup of news, schedules, and key stories from CBS News Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota and chairman of the Budget Committee, said lawmakers and the incoming administration had differences over how