President Obama signed this bill into law on 12/19/2009 (P.L. No:111-118). This federal spending bill includes two important provisions:
1. Extended and expanded the COBRA subsidy program enacted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This expands the COBRA premium subsidy period to employees who were/or are involuntarily terminated on or before 2/28/10. Employers who have affected employees will pay the 65% subsidy for employees COBRA payments and employees will only need to pay 35% of their COBRA coverage. The COBRA premium subsidy is extended from 9 months to 15 months and employers must notify the affected terminated employees.
2. Extended unemployment benefits through July 31, 2010. For example, an individual who runs out of all their unemployment benefits on or before 2/20/2010 may be eligible for an extension of an additional 14-20 weeks of benefits. All affected employees are encouraged to contact your state’s unemployment office to understand their detailed unemployment benefits. Each state, depending on their unemployment rates will have different weekly extentions.
