Another elder in the region was hopeful the kidnapping could be resolved quickly. “We are hopeful that the gunmen will release the aid workers peacefully, soon after our negotiations come to an end today,” Edin Malag said. Kidnappings of foreign aid workers and journalists by ransom-seeking armed groups are frequent in conflict-wracked Somalia. UN agencies attempting to deliver food aid to the 3.25 million Somalis it estimates need humanitarian support have been repeatedly targeted.
Freshly laid off and unemployed? Have no fear. It will become cheaper for most people to keep health insurance after losing a job if the government’s stimulus plan becomes law. The purpose of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is to stimulate the economy by preserving and creating jobs, helping the unemployed and uninsured, and assisting states with budget relief measures. The U.S. House of Representatives has just approved measures to expand access to affordable health care coverage for workers who become jobless because of the recession. It is estimated that this package will help 8.2 million people keep their healthcare coverage. Briefly, this legislation would:
Unemployment carries with it all of the mystery of Pandora’s box. Many unemployed beneficiaries are just now finding out that healthcare is not a given as the first checks roll out. Much of a laid-off worker’s healthcare coverage has to do with the spectrum of coverage from the his/her previous employer. For the vast majority of people out of work, the ability to maintain the same level of healthcare coverage has simply become too burdensome. At the tip of the post-unemployment iceberg is an entity whose rules characterize the inability for so many to receive coverage after a job loss — COBRA.
COBRA (the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) is a law passed by the U.S. Congress during the Reagan administration that, among other things, mandates an insurance program giving some employees the ability to continue health insurance coverage after leaving employment. It allows for coverage for up to 18 months in most cases. If the individual is deemed disabled, coverage may continue for up to 29 months. In the case of divorce, coverage may continue for up to 36 months. COBRA does not apply, on the other hand, if employees lose their benefits coverage because the employer has terminated the plan altogether or if the employer has gone out of business.
It also does not require the employer to pay for the cost of providing continuation coverage. Instead, it allows employees and their dependents to maintain coverage at their own expense by paying the full cost of the premium the employer previously paid, plus up to a 2% administrative charge (50% for the latter 11 months under the disability extension).
Originating from Saint Paul, Minnesota, [doctorpundit.com] is a weblog about the policy of healthcare and where it intersects with politics and public opinion; it is edited by Michael Douglas, MD, MBA. Welcome, and please consider my take on what is Healthcare 2.0, complemented by a few of my thoughts on my personal avocations and guilty pleasures: music, prose, and writing. Follow Doctor Pundit via RSS above.
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DOCTOR PUNDIT @ ONE YEAR | An occasional DP series from 2010 highlighting healthcare policy trends over the period from 2009-2010 in a compare/contrast format.
