Health Insurance

Finding affordable health insurance is a challenge these days since the cost of medical care is going up by leaps and bounds. Another challenge is paying for health insurance if you're unempolyeed or have recently lost your job.

One of the benefits from the government's stimulus package is a subsidy of the monthly premium cost. The government subsidy started on February 17, 2009.  It helps pay the monthly health insurance premium for individuals who involuntarily lose their jobs and qualify under federal COBRA law.

This is how the program works: the individual pays 23 percent of the health insurance premium and the previous employer or health insurance company pays 65 percent. The amount paid by a previous employer or health insurance company is reimbursed by the government as a credit against their payroll taxes or as a refund.

The subsidy is for up to nine months for individuals who worked for an employer with twenty or more employees and who are eligible to continue their health insurance coverage  through their former employer under COBRA.

The subsidy program is also good for up to six months for individuals who worked for a small business with fewer than twenty employees and who are eligible to continue their health insurance coverage  through their former employer under COBRA.