The House votes to extend benefits for unemployed

The House approved legislation yesterday that would extend unemployment benefits, including subsidies for the Cobra program to help the jobless buy health insurance.

The measure also would prevent scheduled cuts in Medicare payments to doctors.

The bill, approved on a voice vote, now heads to the Senate. It would extend the health-care subsidies through next month, the unemployment benefits through April 5, and forestall the looming 21 percent cut in physician reimbursements until April.

The jobless can buy health insurance through their former employers with the federal government picking up 65 percent of the tab under the Cobra program.

Workers who lose their jobs can remain on their former employer's health plan for as long as 18 months under the 1986 law.

With the 65 percent subsidy for fired workers, the average family pays $398 a month for health benefits, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation based in Menlo Park, Calif. The cost rises to $1,137 a month without it. Those eligible may use it for up to 15 months.

Extending unemployment insurance benefits, including the Cobra subsidy, would cost an estimated $6.8 billion in 2010, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The stimulus plan passed in February 2009 included a $24.7 billion subsidy to reduce the cost of health insurance premiums for a growing number of unemployed Americans. President Obama signed a bill in December extending eligibility for the Cobra subsidy to Feb. 28.