Cobra health insurance refers primarily to a scheme in the United States of America that was designed, and to an extent still is, to help employees who for a number of reasons have effectively lost their jobs or been made redundant to continue with their health insurance for a period of time after such termination of employment.
The majority of health insurance policies and plans in the United States are brought under various types of employer or small business groups or schemes.
There is a tradition that this is how it has developed within the United States and most people who are in full-time employment and some who are in part-time employment will have access to some level of health insurance via their employer.
This in many ways is seen as a key part of an individual’s entitlement whilst in work, and for many people is the only way that they would be able to have any type of health insurance coverage.
It is therefore a pretty terrifying prospect when for whatever reason that employment is terminated, all the hours that they work is significantly reduced and they effectively lose access to their health insurance plan.
Financial Help
The idea behind Cobra was to produce a scheme that gave some type of transitional financial help by way of subsidy to an employee, thus allowing them to carry on with their health insurance plan that they had whilst in employment for a certain amount of time once they have lost their job, or had their hours reduced.
The Cobra scheme had a certain number of conditions attached to it concerning the employee, their spouse and dependent children. There are also significant conditions concerning hours of employment and conditions about how the scheme can be accessed and for how long.
In many ways the significance of the Cobra scheme, is that it highlights the gross injustices of the insurance-based healthcare system and the significant financial burden that it places based on the individual and on employers. Whilst the intent of the scheme is admirable, the practical need to help people keep some type of health insurance plan demonstrates the inequities of the system as it currently works.
An employer who wishes to provide healthcare insurance to his employees may wish to do it for a number of reasons. There may well be practical benefits to doing his employees access to healthcare at a time and location that is suitable for both them. In addition an employer who provides a decent level of healthcare insurance will be seen as an attractive option for a worker who sees the benefit in having their health insurance paid for them by the employer.
