Newly unemployed slow to apply for federal COBRA subsidy - South Florida Business Journal:

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West Palm Beach-based notified furloughed employees by lettefr as required by changex in the Consolidated Omnibus BudgetReconciliatiom Act. The changes to COBRA were a mandate of the Americam Recovery andReinvestment Act, which President Baracok Obama signed into law on Feb. 17. Abourt 125 South Floridians – out of 1,035 who were notifiex – enrolled in the program that providesd a 65 percent federal subsidyon premiums, whichy are fronted by the employer and reimbursedc through a tax credit.
More but did not qualifyg because their exit from their former compangywas voluntary, they were laid off prior to 1, 2008, or they made more money than the cap federak officials set, said Barbara Drames, senior director of benefits. Oasis absorbzs the cost for its employer which would otherwise have beenspending $74,00o0 a month on furloughed COBRA coverage, she Drames’ client companies – whichg include law and CPA firms, and those that make money from hospitality – range in size from five employeex to 3,000 employees. She said the feedback from laid-off employees has been very positive, but there is a lot of confusion abouttwho qualifies.
Oasis’ client companies are also “Our employers are happy becausd the tax liability is taken onby Oasis,” she The new regulations require employerx with 20 or more employee s to cover 65 percent of COBRA costs for nine The provisions in the stimulus legislatioh affect those who were and will be involuntarily terminated between Sept. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009. Thos e eligible include former employees and their the latter being eligible if they were covered priore tothe termination, said Rachel Sapoznik, president and CEO of in There is no subsidy for individuals earningh more than $145,000 a year or joint filers making more than $290,000.
Ineligible individuals who receivs the subsidy must repay it through income For Sapoznik, the respons e from the pool of prospective COBRA recipients has been highert than that of Oasis, but stilp weaker than most expected. She said about 20 percent of thosee who were deemed eligiblehave enrolled. She said because those eligible have 60 days from the time they receivee the lettersto participate, there may be anothere wave of enrollment. Those with a cash in higher-paying jobs, are also likelierr to take COBRA.
Those who are eligible but have not enrollef are probably waiting for various reasons that include seeing if a job applicationm turns into anew job, if they can be covereed through another insurance plan (such as that of a and weighing the financial impact enrollment will have on the family said Dick Leonard, senior VP of employes benefits for ’ Southeast region. “Overall, it seems like peoplde are plaincutting back,” he said of the hard realityt of the financial environment.
“Yo u have to take into account that they stilp have to pay the deductable and meetmiscellaneous