COBRA ARRA TARP YIKES

   In the lagniappe within the in the Stimulus Package passed last week in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (with the pork, the special causes, the non-stimulating stimuli), was something employment and benefit lawyers will have some fun with.  It provides that qualifying employees who  are  involuntarily terminated have the right to have their ex-employer subsidize 65 percent of the cost of their health care continuation coverage under COBRA for nine months (actually, the employer will get an offset for this expense for payroll taxes due, so it's the rest of the taxpaying public who will bear the cost).

   Qualifying employees include those with less than $125,000 in income (or family income of less than $250,000), who were laid off between September 1, 2008, and December 31, 2008, and who were participants in a employer-sponsored group.  And, the law requires a reopener for a COBRA election, even for those who rejected COBRA coverage before the law passed.

   There is sure to be uncertainty about a few terms (is a constructive discharge an involuntary termination, for example).   The Department of Labor is apparently working on regulations. 

   More extensive reviews of this legislation abound on the internet.  A couple of useful ones are here and here.