Sens.
“Not extending COBRA premium assistance will hurt hundreds of thousands of people in Pennsylvania and across the country and it will add further strain on our recovering economy," Casey said.
On June 1, INN
The amendment, proposed yesterday, to extend COBRA premium assistance is also cosponsored by Senators Pat Leahy (D-VT), Carl Levin (D-MI), John Kerry (D-MA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Jack Reed (D-RI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mark Begich (D-AK), Roland Burris (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Al Franken (D-MN).
In addition, Sens. Casey and Brown also sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) urging support for an extension of COBRA premium assistance. Senators Leahy, Levin, Chris Dodd (D-CT), Arlen Specter (D-PA), Kerry, Harkin, Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Akaka, Wyden, Reed, Stabenow, Lautenberg, Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Whitehouse, Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Gillibrand, Begich, Franken and Burris also signed the letter.
Without the extension of the COBRA Premium Assistance Program a report from the National Employment Law Projects predicts as many as 150,000 Americans each month will lose out on the subsidies necessary to afford quality health care.