[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2730 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2730

  To extend and enhance the COBRA subsidy program under the American 
                 Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 4, 2009

 Mr. Brown (for himself and Mr. Casey) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To extend and enhance the COBRA subsidy program under the American 
                 Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``COBRA Subsidy Extension and 
Enhancement Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF COBRA SUBSIDY PROGRAM.

    (a) Amount of Required Contribution.--Section 3001(a)(1)(A) of 
division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
(Public Law 111-5) is amended by striking ``35 percent'' and inserting 
``25 percent''.
    (b) Coverage Under Retiree Plans.--Section 3001(a)(2)(A)(i) of 
division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
(Public Law 111-5) is amended by inserting ``coverage under retiree 
group health plan,'' after ``Code of 1986),''.
    (c) Extension of Coverage.--Section 3001(a)(2)(A)(ii) of division B 
of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-
5) is amended--
            (1) in subclause (I), by striking ``9 months'' and 
        inserting ``15 months'';
            (2) in subclause (II), by strike ``or'' at the end;
            (3) in subclause (III), by striking the period and 
        inserting ``; or''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
                                    ``(IV) December 31, 2010.''.
    (d) Assistance Eligible Individuals.--Section 3001(a)(3) of 
division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
(Public Law 111-5) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``December'' and all 
        that follows through ``is eligible'' and inserting ``June 30, 
        2010, such qualified beneficiary is or will be eligible, in the 
        next 31 days,''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ``or reduction in 
        hours (for purposes of a qualifying event based on a reduction 
        in hours shall only apply to individuals whose reduction in 
        hours was involuntary and occurred on or after the date of 
        enactment of the COBRA Subsidy Extension and Enhancement Act of 
        2009, except that this parenthetical shall not apply to an 
        employee whose involuntary reduction in hours occurred prior to 
        such date of enactment and is covered by COBRA continuation 
        coverage on such date of enactment) of the covered employee'' 
        after ``employment''.
    (e) Effective Dates and Transition.--
            (1) Effective dates.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), the amendments made by this section shall be 
                effective as if included in the enactment of the 
                American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public 
                Law 111-5).
                    (B) Special effective date.--The amendment made 
                by--
                            (i) subsection (a) shall take effect on the 
                        date of enactment of this Act and shall apply 
                        beginning with the first premium payment made 
                        by an assistance eligible individual under 
                        section 3001 of division B of the American 
                        Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public 
                        Law 111-5) after such date of enactment; and
                            (ii) subsection (b) shall take effect on 
                        the date of enactment of this Act.
            (2) Transitional rule.--
                    (A) In general.--In the case of an individual 
                described in subparagraph (B), under rules established 
                jointly by the Secretaries of Health and Human 
                Services, Treasury, and Labor, the individual may elect 
                to continue and extend COBRA continuation coverage as 
                provided under section 3001 of division B of the 
                American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, through 
                an election similar to the election permitted under 
                section 3001(a)(4)(A) of such division B. In no case 
                shall the extended period of continuation under this 
                paragraph exceed 3 months.
                    (B) Individual described.--An individual described 
                in this subparagraph is an individual whose COBRA 
                continuation coverage--
                            (i) is described in such section 3001;
                            (ii) expired by virtue of reaching the 
                        maximum required period of continuation 
                        coverage before the date of the enactment of 
                        this Act; and
                            (iii) would, but for the application of 
                        such maximum required period of such 
                        continuation coverage, have continued after 
                        such date.
                                 <all>