Congress is in recess, and – as was expected – the bill that would have extended COBRA was allowed to lapse.  As of June 1st, the federal government will no longer subsidize COBRA premiums.  What does this mean to you, as a health insurance consumer? Read on to learn more.

What is COBRA Coverage?

COBRA is a form of protection for individuals who become unemployed and have their health insurance benefits taken away as a result. It was first introduced in 1986, under the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act passed during the Reagan administration. Since then, millions of unemployed workers have had the opportunity to retain the coverage that was provided to them by their former employer.

In 2008, when the economy took a nosedive, millions of people became unemployed (the best estimates show that a record 10 million are collecting unemployment insurance and half of the 15.3 milion jobless Americans have been unemployed six months or longer). The newly elected Obama administration stepped up to the plate and added government subsidies to help cover the cost of COBRA through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Under the ARRA, COBRA was provided at a 65% discount to the unemployed. What this meant was that a typical COBRA plan (which would have cost a family in California $1,107 a month and 82% of their unemployment check) would have cost only 35% of the actual cost of the plan – or about $390 for a family. The subsidy finally made COBRA affordable for most American families.

What’s Changed about COBRA Subsidy?

As of June 1, 2010, anyone who becomes unemployed will no longer receive subsidized COBRA coverage. This means that you will need to pay the full premium for coverage, which could total more than 3/4th of your unemployment check! Unfortunately, Congress is in a fiscally conservative mood, so you won’t be able to take advantage of any more federal subsidies.

However, the good news is that there are essentially dozens of alternative health insurance options within your reach. The thing most consumers may not realize is that COBRA is priced as group coverage – and it often includes coverage that you may not need as a family. You can take advantage of drastically lower rates simply by opting for a private health insurance alternative. All you have to do is click here to request a free quote!

Health Reform was a big topic this year.  After all, President Barack Obama stood in front of congress more than once to encourage bipartisan support for the measures.  In the end, the country was deeply divided in their opinions about the bill’s veracity, but few can deny that Health Reform – as described in HR 3590 - will have far-reaching effects for millions of Americans (for better or worse).

This list of the 10 Most Costly Conditions was taken from our consumer guide to Health Reform in 2010.

Among the extensive coverage of health reform (Google shows an astounding 4,100,000 results for the phrase “health reform bill”) there is very little in the way of consumer guides.  MedHealthInsurance.com sought to remedy that shortfall by publishing a consumer guide to health reform in conjunction with the Insurance Research Organization.  We hope this guide will help you better understand your options under the new bill, its timeline, and how it will affect you – no matter which walk of life you hail from.

The Geography of the Congressional Health Care Bill

With a narrow 219 to 212 margin of victory, the landmark health care reform bill (known as the “Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act”) passed Sunday night. President Obama – along with Vice President Joe Biden – watched the final tally of votes from the White House. Responding, the President said: “We pushed back on the undue influence of special interests. We didn’t give in to mistrust or to cynicism or to fear. Instead, we proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things.”

HR4872 was a revised form of the health care bill passed by Congress on Christmas Eve. It was meant to reconcile some of the reservations that the Senate had with many of the original bill’s provisions. Unfortunately, between Christmas Eve and the vote on Sunday, a spectre of controversy has arisen over the bill, and ultimately, 34 Democrats stood with Republicans to oppose the bill. Representative John Boehner, Republican from Ohio, pledged to vehemently fight the bill: “The American people are angry. This body moves forward against their will. Shame on us,” said Boehner.  Chances are high, however, that the bill will pass the Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes.

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President Obama made a lot of promises in his 2008 Presidential campaign, and many of them were around changes he wanted to see happen in America’s health care and insurance system. Unfortunately, many time politicians will talk the talk in order to get voters to punch their ticket a certain way on election day.

Walking the walk as far as campaign promises doesn’t always happen. Just look at the Bush administration…don’t even get me started. It is refreshing to hear Obama say that he is welcoming ideas on how to reform the health care proposal he created during his campaign, and I am all for a system in which many have a say in ideas to find a solution that works for everyone in the current state of the economy.

But the real question is, especially after hearing President Obama’s State of the Union address: What is the buzz around Obama’s statement of “come one, come all” for hearing opinions on health care, and will it work in creating a just and successful health care system for America?

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As many Americans had hoped, President Obama is in office and the wheels appear to be in motion. The health care situation in the United States is just as grim as the rest of our economy, so it’s encouraging to see that the new administration is wasting no time rolling up their sleeves to let the health care reform work begin. However, before we get our hopes up that we are going to see some radical changes in the way health care is handled this year, some realistic expectations should be put in place. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and we shouldn’t expect new policymakers to miraculously turn around the somewhat dismal space our health care system has become. But what can we expect in 2009 from our government, and what might health care start to look like?

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