Working for the Pennsylvania worker isn't just about creating and protecting jobs. It's also about protecting health benefits.

Legislation that I co-sponsored making COBRA health-insurance coverage available to Pennsylvania businesses with fewer than 20 employees was recently signed into law.

Act 2 of 2009 gives employees of small companies the option to continue health-care coverage for themselves and their families when they leave their jobs. With nearly 250,000 businesses in Pennsylvania with 19 or fewer employees, this new law has the potential to help hundreds of thousands of people.

The economy is hitting our small businesses hard. Employees shouldn't be forced to join the ranks of the uninsured when they become unemployed.

The new law also extends the 65 percent reduction in COBRA premiums authorized under the federal stimulus law to workers laid off from small businesses for up to nine months.

More information on federal COBRA requirements is available from the U.S. Department of Labor by calling toll free 1-866-444-3272, or visiting www.dol.gov/cobra.