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2harddrive wrote:
Where’s the help for ME, paying the high COBRA health insurance fees???

I'm in that boat with you. I wrote a letter to our COBRA provider last week about this. I don't have a reply yet. According to the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," we only have to send 35% of whatever the bill is. The company collects the rest from the Feds.

It's in Part B of the Conference Report for H.R.1. Download that, go to page 396. The details are there.

SEC. 3001. PREMIUM ASSISTANCE FOR COBRA BENEFITS.
(a) PREMIUM ASSISTANCE FOR COBRA CONTINU
ATION COVERAGE FOR INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR FAMI-
LIES.-
(1) PROVISION OF PREMIUM ASSISTANCE.-
(A) REDUCTION OF PREMIUMS PAYABLE.-
In the case of any premium for a period
of coverage beginning on or after the date
of the enactment of this Act for COBRA continuation
coverage with respect to any assistance
eligible individual, such individual shall be
treated for purposes of any COBRA continuation
provision as having paid the amount of
such premium if such individual pays (or a person
other than such individual's employer pays
on behalf of such individual) 35 percent of the
amount of such premium (as determined without
regard to this subsection).

From the bill, it sounds like you pay 35% of the bill that they send you, and they collect the rest from the Feds.

I'm not doing that until I have it in writing from our provider that it will work that way. But that's the intent in ARRA.