by KYW's Salil Gutt
The staggering job losses in the economy results in a domino effect for health insurance.
There are laws that prevent healthy employers from cutting health insurance coverage. Under COBRA, like in the snake, employees who have lost their jobs must be offered the same health insurance policy as when they were working. This coverage is available for 18 months. However, former employees must pay the premiums themselves. The new premiums cannot be higher than 102 % of the prior premiums.
Now for the bad news. The premium the employee has to pay is based on the cost to the employer not what was taken from the employees paycheck when working. Many employers subsidize the cost of heath insurance to their employees. The better the policy the higher the cost. Monthly premiums could be in the $500-600 range for singles and in the $1,000 to $1,250 range for families.
Also relevant in today' s economy. If an employer goes bankrupt or abruptly eliminates health care for employees, then no one is eligible for continued coverage under the COBRA provisions.
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