May 28, Congress let expire the eligibility period for the COBRA premium subsidy provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Now, only those people who experienced a qualifying event occurring between September 1, 2008 and May 31st, 2010 are eligible for the ARRA subsidy.
An extension of the subsidy was originally included in the American Jobs, Closing Tax Loopholes and Preventing Outsourcing Act of 2010 that was passed by the House last Friday, May 28th. However, in order to secure the support of both parties and passage before the holiday weekend recess, House leaders removed all non-tax related provisions from the original bill. The eliminated elements included both an unemployment insurance extension and a COBRA premium subsidy extension.
Although there are indications that the Senate will make additional amendments to the measure, at this point in time, the official end date for the subsidy eligibility period is May 31, 2010.
As always, we will be keeping our clients informed of all regulatory changes as they occur.
Further information on COBRA Premium Subsidies is available at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/cobra.html.
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