COBRA Subsidy Extended

On March 2, 2010, the President signed The Temporary Extension Act of 2010, which extends by one month the COBRA premium reduction provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Now, individuals who incur a qualifying involuntary termination of employment on or before March 31, 2010, will qualify for the COBRA premium reduction (a previous extension covered qualifying terminations only through February 28, 2010). As a reminder, the ARRA premium reduction provisions provide eligible individuals with up to 15 months of COBRA premium reduction, under which they pay only 35 percent of their COBRA premiums, with the remaining 65 percent reimbursed to the employer or coverage provider through a tax credit.