COBRA insurance costs eyed in report - Tulsa World
"I'm 51 years old, and I've already had health problems. I cannot risk losing my house because of a health issue," the Broken Arrow resident said.
Her $425 insurance payment takes up more than a quarter of her monthly unemployment insurance. Clark's house payment uses half the monthly benefit, leaving less than a quarter of her unemployment pay to cover food, gas, utilities and other expenses.
"I'm really learning to cut corners," she said.
Many Oklahomans who are laid off join the burgeoning uninsured population rather than pay COBRA costs.
According to a national report released Friday, Oklahoma's average 2008 unemployment benefit was $1,201 per month.
Employees who were laid off from their jobs spent about 83 percent of their monthly unemployment compensation to cover their families under COBRA. And those with individual coverage spent about 31 percent of their unemployment pay, according to the report from Families USA, a nonprofit organization
ABC NewsCOBRA insurance costs eyed in report Por Thor of Owasso helps his father, Bee Thor, look for mechanical work at the Workforce Oklahoma office in Tulsa. Health insurance for the unemployed is so Study: COBRA health insurance is little help to unemployed