[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 172 (Thursday, November 19, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S11578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              COBRA SUBSIDY EXTENSION AND ENHANCEMENT ACT

  Mr. FRANKEN. Madam President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to 
support S. 2730, the COBRA Subsidy Extension and Enhancement Act.
  As you may know, COBRA allows jobless workers to keep their health 
care as they look for new work. The Recovery Act included a COBRA 
subsidy through the end of this year, but if we fail to act, millions 
of Americans currently looking for work will be faced with a further 
unbearable burden--the tripling of their COBRA payments.
  I am very pleased with the Senate Patient Protection and Affordable 
Care Act that was released yesterday. This bill will help bring down 
health care costs for families and the Federal Government. We will 
invest in prevention and provide incentives to doctors to provide high-
quality health care. I commend Leader Reid, Chairman Harkin, Chairman 
Baucus, and Chairman Dodd for moving us one critical step closer to 
secure, affordable health care for all Americans. But while health care 
reform will bring long-term relief, the proposed COBRA extension will 
help us bridge the gap before health care reform is fully implemented.
  Take, for example, the situation of one of my constituents, Gregory, 
from Lakeville, MN, southeast of the Twin Cities. Gregory has built a 
professional career in the printing industry, the same industry my dad 
was in. He was a printing salesman for 30 years. The printing industry 
has been especially hard hit by our current recession. Gregory's wife 
depends on him for health insurance. She has rheumatoid arthritis. My 
mom had rheumatoid arthritis. Gregory also has two daughters in school.
  Gregory was laid off this March and has been tirelessly looking for a 
job ever since. But there aren't any jobs to be found. Now he has 
accepted that he may have to change fields, but he is 57 years old. A 
career change at 57 isn't easy. Unless Congress passes a COBRA 
extension, his premiums will nearly triple, going from $350 a month to 
$940 a month. In today's dismal economy, who has $940 each month to 
spend on health care insurance, especially if you don't have a job?
  Gregory has explored the option of a private insurance plan, but his 
wife's preexisting rheumatoid arthritis makes private plans an 
impossibility. Gregory is hopeful, as am I, that passing a health care 
reform bill will eliminate this problem of preexisting conditions. But 
in the meantime, what are families like Gregory's supposed to do?
  Gregory's family is not alone in this plight. CBO estimates that 7 
million workers and their families have used the COBRA subsidies in 
2009. That includes thousands and thousands of Minnesotans. The 
expiration of the subsidy will make premiums so expensive that many 
families will be forced to drop their coverage, adding further to the 
number of uninsured Americans. Now is not the time to put another 
burden on struggling families.
  The COBRA Subsidy Extension and Enhancement Act will provide relief 
to families by extending the COBRA subsidy another 6 months, through 
June of 2010. By that time, our economy will have made significant 
progress in job creation, and many Americans will be back on the job. 
The extension will also include an increase in the subsidy--from 65 
percent to 75 percent--allowing more families to retain coverage. 
During this recession, the last thing Congress should do is pull the 
plug on benefits before folks have had a chance to get back on their 
feet.
  I know my colleagues Senators Brown and Casey share the same goal of 
passing meaningful health care reform this year. But they also know the 
importance of providing a stopgap measure to deliver relief to families 
who are struggling in the current downturn. I thank them for their 
leadership on these critical issues.
  I urge my colleagues to swiftly enact the COBRA Subsidy Extension and 
Enhancement Act and allow more families to maintain health care 
insurance coverage as they look for work.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi is recognized.

                          ____________________