Employees laid off from June 1 through November 30 would be
eligible for COBRA premium subsidies under a tax bill amendment
proposed Wednesday, June 9, by Sen. Robert Casey,
D-Pennsylvania.
gMillions of Americans have been hard hit by the recession and
lost their jobs through no fault of their own. If Congress turns its
back on them, they will have an even more difficult time making ends
meet,h Sen. Casey said at a news briefing.
Caseyfs amendment to H.R. 4213 would need approval by the Senate,
which is considering amendments to the broader bill.
When the Senate first approved H.R. 4213 in March, the bill
included a provision to extend the 15-month, 65 percent federal
premium subsidy to employees laid off through year-end. But the
House stripped the COBRA subsidy provision and its projected nearly
$8 billion cost from the tax measure in May before passing the
broader bill and sending the bill back to the Senate.
The revamped tax bill that Senate Democrats unveiled Tuesday,
like the House-passed measure, omits an extension of federal COBRA
premium subsidies for laid-off employees.
The last congressional extension of the subsidy expired May 31,
which means employees involuntarily terminated starting June 1 have
not been eligible to receive the subsidy.
Filed
by Jerry Geisel of Business
Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce
Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.