Illinois to Subsidize Health Insurance for Laid Off Small Business Workers

Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation designed to make health insurance coverage for workers laid off from small businesses more affordable.

Under federal legislation, people who formerly worked at firms of 20 employees or more are eligible for a subsidy reducing the cost of their continued health care coverage, called COBRA, by 65 percent.

But the bill Quinn signed Thursday offers a 65 percent health insurance payment subsidy to those who worked for companies with fewer than 20 employees. It also gives employees of small businesses who lost their jobs after September 1, 2008, a second chance to enter the program.

Quinn says the law’s a bid to help protect the state’s most vulnerable citizens.