According to a recent report by Families USA, in order for an average Connecticut family with an unemployed breadwinner to continue health care coverage under COBRA, it would exhaust 80% of their unemployment benefits each month. This puts Connecticut families in a situation where they have little choice but to go without health insurance. In the New Britain Herald, Scott Whipple reports on the tough choices that families in the state are facing:

A report issued on the same day the government released its latest unemployment data shows most laid-off people are likely to lose their health coverage.

The average national premium costs for family COBRA coverage consume almost 84 percent of average unemployment benefits. COBRA — Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act — gives workers and their families the right to continue health benefits following job loss by paying the full cost of insurance.

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“COBRA health coverage is a great concept but lousy in reality,” said Phil Sherwood, deputy director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group. “For the vast majority of workers laid off in Connecticut, they and their families are likely to join the ranks of the uninsured. There needs to be a safety net.”

Sherwood called it “egregious that we have a health care system that if you get laid off you lose your health care. A better system would be one that’s portable, that moves with you from job to job, so when there’s an economic downturn Americans aren’t left unable to afford protection.”

[...]

“The right to COBRA health coverage is a tragic ruse for millions of families whose breadwinner was laid off,” said Ron Pollack, Families USA’s Executive Director. “Unemployed workers need either premium subsidies to help them afford COBRA benefits or temporary health safety-net coverage through Medicaid.”

Scott's article continues with a brief description of plans from three of Connecticut's federal legislators Sen. Chris Dodd, Rep. Chris Murphy, and Rep. John Larson.