ARRA: ARRA is the abbreviation of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Also known as The Recovery or the Stimulus Act, its objective is to promote investment and consumer spending and to restore jobs at the time of recession. The American government, under this Act, has allotted $787 billion in the form of several federal tax cuts, social welfare provisions and unemployment benefits, infrastructure, health insurance, spending in education and to the energy sector. Out of these $787 billion, $228 billion contain the tax benefits; $275 billion make up for the Contracts, Loans and Grant whereas $224 billion have been allotted for entitlements. Of these, as many as $163 billion dollars have already been paid out through the tax benefits. A total amount of $112 billion dollars for the sake of Contracts, loans and grants and $131 billion dollars have been paid out for the purpose of entitlement. There have been significant developments in the recent past because of the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These developments have taken place in several fields, such as the broadband expansion, construction and research projects and health information technology. Following are some of the major developments made under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009:

About ARRA And COBRA Subsidy In Florida

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as it was originally passed, one group of people began receiving COBRA premium assistance in March, and that assistance ended on November 30, 2009. This group experienced a gap of several weeks before the assistance was extended, giving them six more months of help. The new law allows them to reinstate their COBRA benefits.

People who received COBRA premium assistance any time after October 31, 2009, should receive notice from their former employers or health plans by mid-February explaining that COBRA premium assistance has been extended. Those that lost their COBRA coverage for failure to pay their premiums can get that coverage back by paying any missed premiums: for each month missed, they must pay 35 percent of their total COBRA premium, and the federal government pays the other 65 percent (just as it did when they had the subsidy before). After people get notice from their former employer or health plan, they have 30 days to make this payment. Those that paid their full COBRA premiums in December because they thought the assistance had ended will get refunds or credits for any overpayments they made.

People who worked for small employers with fewer than 20 workers are also eligible for federal premium assistance for up to 15 months, as long as their state laws give them the right to continue their coverage for this period. Consult your state Department of Insurance for details.

Further information on COBRA assistance will be posted on the Department of Labor’s Web site at www.dol.gov/cobra.