II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COBRA Subsidy Ex5 tension and Enhancement Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF COBRA SUBSIDY PROGRAM. 

7 (a) AMOUNT OF REQUIRED CONTRIBUTION.—Section 

8 3001(a)(1)(A) of division B of the American Recovery and 

9 Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5) is amended 

10 by striking ‘‘35 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘25 percent’’. 


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1 (b) COVERAGE UNDER RETIREE PLANS.—Section 

2 3001(a)(2)(A)(i) of division B of the American Recovery 

3 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5) is 

4 amended by inserting ‘‘coverage under retiree group 

5 health plan,’’ after ‘‘Code of 1986),’’. 

6 (c) EXTENSION OF COVERAGE.—Section 

7 3001(a)(2)(A)(ii) of division B of the American Recovery 

8 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘9 months’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘15 months’’; 

12 (2) in subclause (II), by strike ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

13 (3) in subclause (III), by striking the period 

14 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

15 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(IV) December 31, 2010.’’. 

17 (d) ASSISTANCE ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—Section 

18 3001(a)(3) of division B of the American Recovery and 

19 Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5) is amend20 ed— 

21 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Decem22 ber’’ and all that follows through ‘‘is eligible’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘June 30, 2010, such qualified beneficiary 

24 is or will be eligible, in the next 31 days,’’; and 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘or re2 duction in hours (for purposes of a qualifying event 

3 based on a reduction in hours shall only apply to in4 dividuals whose reduction in hours was involuntary 

5 and occurred on or after the date of enactment of 

6 the COBRA Subsidy Extension and Enhancement 

7 Act of 2009, except that this parenthetical shall not 

8 apply to an employee whose involuntary reduction in 

9 hours occurred prior to such date of enactment and 

10 is covered by COBRA continuation coverage on such 

11 date of enactment) of the covered employee’’ after 

12 ‘‘employment’’. 

13 (e) EFFECTIVE DATES AND TRANSITION.— 

14 (1) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

16 subparagraph (B), the amendments made by 

17 this section shall be effective as if included in 

18 the enactment of the American Recovery and 

19 Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5). 

20 (B) SPECIAL EFFECTIVE DATE.—The 

21 amendment made by— 

22 (i) subsection (a) shall take effect on 

23 the date of enactment of this Act and shall 

24 apply beginning with the first premium 

25 payment made by an assistance eligible inVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:11 Nov 05, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2730.IS S2730

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1 dividual under section 3001 of division B 

2 of the American Recovery and Reinvest3 ment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5) 

4 after such date of enactment; and 

5 (ii) subsection (b) shall take effect on 

6 the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 (2) TRANSITIONAL RULE.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an indi9 vidual described in subparagraph (B), under 

10 rules established jointly by the Secretaries of 

11 Health and Human Services, Treasury, and 

12 Labor, the individual may elect to continue and 

13 extend COBRA continuation coverage as pro14 vided under section 3001 of division B of the 

15 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 

16 2009, through an election similar to the election 

17 permitted under section 3001(a)(4)(A) of such 

18 division B. In no case shall the extended period 

19 of continuation under this paragraph exceed 3 

20 months. 

21 (B) INDIVIDUAL DESCRIBED.—An indi22 vidual described in this subparagraph is an in23 dividual whose COBRA continuation coverage— 

24 (i) is described in such section 3001; 


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1 (ii) expired by virtue of reaching the 

2 maximum required period of continuation 

3 coverage before the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act; and 

5 (iii) would, but for the application of 

6 such maximum required period of such 

7 continuation coverage, have continued after 

8 such date. 

Æ 


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