I'm sure by now everyone involved in the benefits business has read about the new COBRA provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aka "The Stimulus Package." If you don't know a lick about it, then you had better do some Google research. It's going to affect agents and business folks alike!

Since I only have a few words to write in this article, I can't really go through the entire scope of the Act. Plus if I did, it would be boring and I'd lose my audience, and be forced to go out and sell more insurance! One of the features of the ARRA involves providing a 65 percent federal subsidy of the COBRA premium for employees who are involuntarily terminated from their employer. The term "involuntarily" is up to speculation. But, but for all intents and purposes, it involves employees who are laid-off, fired, downsized, right-sized or whatever other term the HR gurus are using to give employees the heave-ho.

That being said, here's what concerns me about the ARRA encouraging bad behavior. I recently received a phone call from an individual inquiring about a personal health insurance policy since he was leaving his place of employment. His conversation led me to believe that he was leaving on his own. After a few fact-finder questions, I pretty much determined the individual would not qualify for a personal plan due to health reasons. Since I didn't want him to go away unfulfilled in his quest for coverage, I then put my counselor hat on and explained some of the COBRA options with him. His employer was supposed to be under COBRA compliance. I advised that if he were terminated he would be eligible to participate in the subsidy for up to nine months.