Only One-Fourth Of Workers Would Use COBRA To Keep Health Coverage If They Became Unemployed, New Study Shows

Only 23% of workers would continue their employer-sponsored health insurance coverage through COBRA if they lost their jobs, and many of those who would not continue coverage through COBRA cite expensive premiums as the main reason, according to 2002 Workplace Health Insurance Survey, released Aug. 29 by The Commonwealth Fund (Edwards et al., "The Erosion of Employer-Based Health Coverage and the Threat to Workers' Health Care," August 2002). COBRA, the 1986 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, allows unemployed workers to retain employer-sponsored health coverage by paying 102% of the premiums (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/7). The percentage of unemployed workers opting to continue employer-based coverage through COBRA would more than double, to 59%, if the federal government offered subsidies that would reduce premiums to $50 per month for individuals and $150 per month for families, or 75% of the average group premium. Among low-income workers, only 16% said they would continue employer coverage through COBRA if they lost their jobs, and 37% would continue their employer-sponsored coverage if premium cost assistance were available. The study also found that workers' confidence in the employer-based health insurance coverage system "is eroding"; 44% of those surveyed said they were "confident" they could obtain "high-quality health care" through their jobs ("The Erosion of Employer-Based Health Coverage and the Threat to Workers' Health Care," August 2002).