Top of the morning

A new report from the Commonwealth Fund provides more evidence that the current health care system doesn’t work, especially for the millions of people losing their jobs as the national recession continues.

Under the federal COBRA ACT, laid off workers have the opportunity to continue their employer-based health care plan for 18 months if they pay the full cost of the coverage themselves. The new report finds that really means most people who lose their job immediately lose their insurance too.

….. unemployed workers would have to pay four to six times their current contribution at a time of sharply reduced income. In fact, the latest national figures indicate that, because of high premiums, only 9 percent of unemployed workers have COBRA coverage.

And none of that includes low-wage workers who didn’t have employer-based insurance in the first place.

The report recommends a subsidy of up to 85 percent of COBRA premiums to make it possible for people who are laid off to see a doctor while they are looking for another job.