Joseph J. Crisco, Jr.

Crisco Votes to Enact Extension of ‘COBRA’ Health Insurance Coverage

State Senator Joseph J. Crisco, Jr. (D-Woodbridge) today voted for Emergency Certified legislation to bring Connecticut into compliance with federal law extending so-called COBRA health insurance for those who lose employer-sponsored coverage. Federal law makes available stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and provides a 65 percent subsidy to assistance-eligible residents.

Today’s unanimous Senate vote followed lopsided House approval; the bill now advances to the governor for her expected signature.

“The original ARRA subsidy provided federal funding for qualifying COBRA participants laid off between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009, but was amended to extend eligibility to those laid off up until the end of this month,” Senator Crisco said. “Today’s action replicates those federal changes and also the extension of COBRA benefits from 9 to 15 months.”

Senator Crisco said it is vitally important for the state to keep current with federal standards, because without the substantial, albeit temporary federal subsidy, newly unemployed participants could be required to pay the full premium for what had been employer-paid insurance, plus a 2 percent administrative fee, just to keep a family covered.

“It is my firm belief that no family—with or without employment—should be without health insurance and the loss of coverage only compounds the demoralizing sudden loss of employment,” Senator Crisco said. “In these lean times we must do all we can to assist those caught in the terrible squeeze of this recession, and a helping hand to extend health insurance coverage is the right thing to do to this end.”

Senator Crisco explained how Connecticut law in fact goes beyond federal law in terms of COBRA coverage, which only applies to former employees of companies with 20 or more employees. Connecticut also has a so-called ‘mini-COBRA’ law that applies to extended healthcare coverage applicable to employees of companies of any size, Senator Crisco said.

Senator Crisco is serving his 9th term in the General Assembly. In addition to his responsibility for the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, he is Senate chair of the Internship Committee. He is also vice-chair of the Banking Committee and Commerce Committee, and serves as a member of the Legislative Management Committee.