As you probably heard, President Obama signed a bill extending federal funding for the COBRA subsidy and unemployment benefits.
The deadline for eligibility for the 65% health insurance premium subsidy has now been extended to those who are laid off through March 31. Previously, eligibility only extended to those who lost their jobs through Feb. 28.
Those eligible can still receive the subsidy for 15 months.
Last week, the House passed the one-month extension, but the bill got held up in the Senate until Tuesday. Once it passed the Senate, Obama quickly signed it into law.
The bill also allows thousands of workers whose unemployment benefits expired on Feb. 28 to receive them for another 30 days. The Department of Labor estimated nearly 400,000 could’ve seen their aid cut if Congress didn’t act.
Congress will now consider a much larger bill that would extend the COBRA subsidy and unemployment benefits through the end of the year.
We’ll keep you posted.