Obama stimulus package includes reduction in COBRA premiums

The economic stimulus package signed by President Obama included a temporary COBRA premium reduction. The U.S. Department of Labor recently published a list of Frequently Asked Questions on the COBRA premium subsidy
provisions.

The stimulus package, which was enacted as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), temporarily reduces the premium for COBRA coverage for eligible individuals by up to 60%. COBRA (the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) allows certain people to extend employer-provided group health coverage, if they would otherwise lose the coverage due to certain events such as divorce or loss of a job.

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