Hewitt sees COBRA enrollment climb

LINCOLNSHIRE - A new analysis from Hewitt Associates, a global human resources company, reveals that COBRA enrollments have doubled since the U.S. government enacted a new subsidy to make health insurance more affordable to millions of laid-off Americans.

With unemployment rates at their highest in more than 25 years, more than 14 million workers are eligible for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) subsidy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Hewitt's analysis examined the COBRA enrollment activity for 200 large U.S. companies representing 8 million employees.

From March 2009 to June 2009, monthly COBRA enrollment rates for Americans eligible for the subsidy averaged 38 percent, up from 19 percent for the period of September 2008 through February 2009.