Earlier this year, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA").  As part of this legislation, "assistance eligible individuals" who lost their jobs between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009 due to a layoff, would be required to pay only 35 percent of their COBRA premiums with the remaining 65 percent to be reimbursed to the coverage provider through a tax credit.  The premium reduction applied to periods of health coverage beginning on or after February 17, 2009 and lasted for up to nine months.

Employers need to be aware of these changes, just days before the original cut-off for eligibility, and should coordinate with their third party administrator to ensure that "assistance eligible individuals" receive proper notice of their rights to access the subsidy.

On December 21, 2009, President Obama signed legislation passed by Congress that does two things: (1) it extends from December 31, 2009 to February 28, 2010 the cut-off for layoffs that trigger the benefit; and (2) it expands from nine months to fifteen months the time over which the subsidy is provided.

Stay up to date with information on the ARRA and the extension at http://www.theinsideperspective.com/