SWACCA Supported COBRA Subsidies Ruled in Order for Reconciliation by Senate Parliamentarian
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, SWACCA has urged Congress to enact critical COBRA continuation coverage subsidies to ensure workers who lost their eligibility for health insurance could continue to afford coverage. We also joined with many other groups to advance this advocacy. The House of Representatives responded to this advocacy by including these COBRA provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319) that passed the House early Saturday by a vote of 219-212. The COBRA language in H.R. 1319 would fund 85 percent of workers’ COBRA premiums through September 2021.
Late last night our work with Senate leaders to secure these subsidies overcame an important hurdle when the Senate parliamentarian ruled that the provisions authorizing the COBRA subsidies did not violate the Senate rules strictly limiting what could be considered through the budget reconciliation process. As the bill with this SWACCA-supported provision continues through the legislative process in the Senate, we will keep working to ensure it is maintained in the final bill.
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