Florida Laid Off Workers Can't Afford Cobra
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You lose your job and your medical benefits. At least there is COBRA to get you through. That’s the health insurance you can obtain up to 18 months after you lose your job. You must pay for, but at least it keeps you covered.
A new study says that Florida is one of nine states where the cost of COBRA exceeds unemployment benefits – in other words you must dip into your savings at a time you have no job, if you want to afford COBRA health insurance.
For example, COBRA premiums cost an average of $1,037 a month for a family. The unemployment insurance pays $1,013. Do the math.
The report is issued by Families USA and comes from the U.S. Department of Labor.
This is sobering news at a time that the nation’s unemployment rate is 7.2 percent, the highest reported in 15 years.
“COBRA health coverage is great in theory and lousy in reality,” Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack said during a press conference Friday morning. “For the vast majority of workers who are laid off, they and their families are likely to join the ranks of the uninsured.”
In 41 states, COBRA premiums cost more than three-fourths of unemployment benefits.
The rising cost of health care is the drum beat we hear every day which will have to be addressed by a new administration.
On a personal level, we can all do our part by trying to stay healthy, and not just avoiding disease.