Washington, D.C. – Today, the D.C. Council approved the, “Continuation of Health Coverage Act Emergency Amendment Act of 2009.” The legislation was authored by Councilmember David Catania (At-Large) and co-introduced by Councilmember Muriel Bowser (Ward 4). It amends District law to allow certain involuntarily terminated employees to continue with their employer’s health benefits plan for a period of 9 months. By doing so, District residents can take advantage of a federal subsidy provided by the recently passed “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” – commonly referred to as the “stimulus bill.”
“There are 10,000 more unemployed District residents who are currently looking for work compared to a year ago,” said Catania. “The loss of health benefits that frequently accompanies unemployment can be devastating. It is my hope that this measure will allow some District residents to continue their health benefits coverage while they are looking for work.”
The federal “Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985,” known as “COBRA,” provides that an employee of a firm with 20 or more employees has the right to continue coverage under their employer’s health benefits plan for a period of 18 months subsequent to termination. For terminated employees in firms with less than 20 employees, the District, like most other states, ensures that they can continue with their employer’s health benefits plan for a period of time after termination. This is commonly called our “mini-COBRA” law and the sets the coverage period at 3 months.
The recently passed federal stimulus package provides a subsidy of 65 percent of the costs of continuing coverage under COBRA or mini-COBRA for a period of 9 months. This means that District residents will only be responsible for 35 percent of their health care premium during this time period. Without the subsidy, they are responsible for the entire premium.
In order for District residents who are involuntarily terminated from employers with less than 20 employees to benefit from this subsidy, today’s measure amended the District’s mini-COBRA law to extend the period of time for which they can continue with their employer’s health benefits plan from 3 months to 9 months.
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