The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) was approved by the federal government in 1985, but in the intervening 23 years thousands of Americans have found that the scheme isn’t as useful as it seems. Now, with the economic crisis putting millions out of work, the failings of COBRA are beginning to be revealed, in all their dubious glory.

Under COBRA, workers who lose their jobs can still retain the employer healthcare that job provided. They can retain the healthcare for up to eighteen months, but they must pay for the full price of upkeep once their employment terminates. While employed, they pay only a portion of the premium, with their employer footing the bill for the remainder. But after their employment is terminated, they’ll pay both shares.

It sounds like a great idea – and it works in theory – but the reality is that to maintain their healthcare after losing their jobs, the average worker must pay as much as 30% of their unemployment check. When a family, rather than a single person is involved, that figure can rise to an astonishing 84%.

(more…)

Universal healthcare could be useful in more ways than one. With more than half a million jobs lost in America in November (the biggest decline in a single month in more than thirty years), the country is in dire straights. Nearly 7% of the nation is wholly unemployed, and a total of 12.5% are either unemployed or barely working. That’s 19.3 million Americans who have little or no work.

The incoming administration is preparing a stimulus package to be introduced in the New Year, intended to get the economy ticking over again by investing billions in infrastructure. The package may include upgrading school buildings, upgrading public buildings to improve energy efficiency, building of bridges and roads, extending the reach of broadband internet, and improving electronic record keeping for medical billing.

(more…)