Health Care Update: Federal program alien to most, survey finds

Published: September 23, 2008

eHealth wants to ask you a question: What do you know about COBRA?

COBRA is an acronym for the federal program that ensures that employees are offered health insurance coverage once they lose their employment through a downsizing or other qualifying event.

eHealth, Mountain View, Calif.-based parent company of eHealthInsurance, launched a new educational intitiative to help consumers and HR professionals make informed decisions about COBRA coverage and alternatives.

The initiative includes a national survey which suggests that consumer awareness about COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) and health insurance alternatives to COBRA is low.

eHealth commissioned a nationwide survey of more than 1,000 respondents to understand consumer awareness of COBRA and other health insurance alternatives. The survey found that four in 10 adults surveyed knew little or nothing about COBRA. Sixty percent of adults surveyed did not know that individually purchased health insurance can be less expensive than COBRA.

Additional insights from the survey include:

•Half of those surveyed who were eligible for COBRA coverage at some point in the past elected to receive it for themselves or a family member, while 47 percent say they declined coverage.

•Expense was the most common reason people eligible for COBRA coverage declined it (68 percent), followed by the fact they were able to be covered on another family member's plan (44 percent).

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